Privacy Policy - Selfstorage Hammersmith

This Privacy Policy explains how Selfstorage Hammersmith collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with its storage services. It applies to all Selfstorage Hammersmith customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, former customers, and individuals who interact with us on behalf of a business account.

We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We respect your privacy and aim to keep your information safe, secure, and used only for lawful purposes.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you use our services. The information we collect may include:

Identity data: name, title, date of birth, and identification details where required for verification.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and emergency contact details if provided.
Account data: customer reference number, booking details, storage unit information, and payment status.
Financial data: billing details, transaction records, payment method information, and invoice history.
Usage data: records of access to premises, entry logs, service requests, and communications with us.
Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information, and other online identifiers if you use digital services.
Security data: CCTV images, access control records, and incident reports where necessary for safety and security.

We generally collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, sign an agreement, enter into a storage arrangement, make a payment, or contact us with an enquiry. In some cases, we may receive information from third parties such as payment providers, fraud prevention services, identity verification services, insurers, debt recovery agencies, or business partners acting on your behalf.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. The main purposes for which we process your information include:

to provide storage services and manage your account;
to verify identity and prevent fraud;
to process bookings, payments, and refunds;
to communicate with you about service updates, reminders, and account matters;
to maintain safety, security, and access control at our premises;
to handle complaints, claims, disputes, and enforcement actions;
to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
to improve our services, systems, and customer experience;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

We will not use your personal data for unrelated purposes unless the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, or we have another lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must identify a lawful basis for each type of processing. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing your storage unit, taking payments, handling bookings, and delivering customer support related to the agreement.

Legal Obligation

We may process your information where necessary to comply with legal requirements. This can include tax obligations, accounting obligations, anti-money laundering checks where applicable, and lawful disclosure requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include protecting our property, preventing fraud, improving operations, maintaining records, and ensuring the security of customers, staff, and premises. When relying on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and whether it is proportionate.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may ask for your consent to process certain information. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before it was withdrawn.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process personal data to protect someone’s vital interests, for example where there is an emergency involving safety or serious harm.

4. Sharing Your Personal Data

We only share personal data when necessary and with appropriate safeguards. We may share data with:

service providers and processors who help us operate our business;
payment processors who handle card or online payments;
identity verification and fraud prevention providers;
IT and cloud service providers that support storage and system administration;
professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants, insurers, and auditors;
regulators, courts, law enforcement, or government bodies where required by law;
debt recovery or enforcement agencies if necessary to recover unpaid amounts or enforce rights.

Where a third party acts as a processor on our behalf, they are required to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it confidential, and apply suitable technical and organisational security measures. We do not sell personal data.

5. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, security, and reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of record and the reason it is held.

Customer and contract records are generally retained for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Payment and accounting records are kept for the period required by tax and financial laws.
Security records, including CCTV, are retained for limited periods unless needed for an investigation or legal claim.
Communications and complaints may be retained to help resolve disputes and demonstrate compliance.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely, anonymise it, or permanently archive it where appropriate.

6. Data Security

We take the security of personal data seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, encryption where appropriate, staff training, secure storage, and regular review of systems and procedures. While we do our best to protect information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

7. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these include:

the right to be informed about how we use your data;
the right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
the right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
the right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten;
the right to restrict processing in certain situations;
the right to data portability for information you provided to us in specific circumstances;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
rights related to automated decision-making, where applicable.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

8. International Transfers

Where your personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a customer relationship and lawfully provided by a parent, guardian, or authorised adult.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. Any revised version will apply from the date it takes effect. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is handled.

11. Our Commitment to You

At Selfstorage Hammersmith, we believe privacy should be handled with care, transparency, and respect. We will only collect data that is relevant and necessary, use it fairly, and retain it for no longer than needed. We will also take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal data is accurate, secure, and processed in accordance with the law.

Privacy is important to us, and we are committed to maintaining trust through responsible data handling. By using our services, customers in the Hammersmith area can be confident that their information is managed with appropriate care and in line with GDPR principles.