Storage Barkingside Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Barkingside collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in the Barkingside area. It also sets out your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all Storage Barkingside customers and users of our services in the Barkingside area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person at our premises.
1. Who we are and scope of this policy
Storage Barkingside is a self-storage service provider operating in the Barkingside area. For the purpose of data protection laws, Storage Barkingside is the data controller of the personal data we collect and process about you. This Privacy Policy covers all personal data processed in connection with enquiries, bookings, contracts, payments, site access, and any related support or communication.
2. Types of personal data we collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you enquire about or use our storage services:
Identity and contact information, such as your name, postal address, billing address, and other contact details you provide when you become a customer or make an enquiry.
Customer account and contract information, such as storage unit number, contract start and end dates, access permissions, and communications relating to your account.
Payment and transaction information, such as payment method details, partial card information where required for verification, payment history, invoices, and records of overdue or outstanding balances.
Access and security information, such as vehicle registration numbers used to access the site, access codes, key or fob numbers, sign-in and sign-out logs, and CCTV footage recorded on and around our premises for security and safety purposes.
Communication records, such as information you provide when you contact us with a query, feedback, or complaint, including the content and date of communications and any follow-up actions.
Marketing preferences, such as your preferences regarding receiving information about our services, promotions, or updates, and records of any consent you have given or withdrawn.
3. How we obtain your personal data
We collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, sign a storage agreement, arrange a payment, access our premises, or contact us for support. We may also collect limited information from third parties where necessary to verify identity or payment status, or to recover debts, always in compliance with applicable data protection laws.
4. Lawful bases for processing your data
We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection laws. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:
Contract. We process data that is necessary to enter into or perform our contract with you, for example to provide your storage unit, manage your bookings, process payments, and provide customer support.
Legal obligation. We process data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as accounting rules, tax obligations, security and safety requirements, law enforcement requests, and record-keeping duties.
Legitimate interests. We process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Examples include ensuring site and asset security using access logs and CCTV, preventing fraud, managing and improving our services, and pursuing or defending legal claims.
Consent. In some cases, we rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communications that are not covered by our legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before you withdrew consent.
5. Purposes for which we use personal data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide and manage your storage services, including handling enquiries, preparing and managing your contract, allocating storage units, and providing access to our facilities.
To process payments and manage billing, including processing payments, issuing invoices and receipts, handling payment queries, and managing any overdue accounts or debt recovery actions.
To maintain safety and security, including controlling access to our premises, monitoring access logs, operating CCTV for crime prevention and safety, and investigating incidents or breaches.
To deliver customer service and support, including responding to your questions or complaints, managing your preferences, and communicating with you about your account or contract.
To improve our services and operations, including monitoring usage patterns, improving our facilities and processes, training staff, and performing internal audits.
To send service and marketing communications, including important service notices, updates to our terms or policies, and, where permitted, information about offers or services related to storage that we believe may be of interest to you.
6. Data retention and storage periods
We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, to meet our legal or regulatory obligations, or to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. In general:
Contract and account data are kept for the duration of your contract and for a period after its end, typically aligned with statutory limitation periods for legal claims and applicable accounting and tax rules.
Payment and transaction records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
CCTV footage and access logs are retained for a limited period necessary for security, safety, and incident investigation, unless a longer period is required in connection with a specific investigation or legal matter.
Marketing preference information is retained while you remain a customer or subscriber and until you object or withdraw consent, after which we keep a minimal record to respect your preference.
We regularly review our data holdings and securely delete or anonymise personal data that is no longer needed.
7. Use of data processors and third parties
We may use third-party service providers who act as data processors to help us operate our business and deliver services. These may include payment processing providers, IT and cloud hosting providers, CCTV and site security providers, customer management system providers, accountants, and professional advisers.
Where we share personal data with processors, they are only permitted to process your data according to our documented instructions, must keep your data secure, and are not allowed to use it for their own purposes.
We may also share personal data with other third parties, acting as controllers, where required by law or where necessary for our legitimate interests, such as with law enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities, courts, legal advisers, or debt recovery agencies.
8. International transfers
If we transfer your personal data to countries outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area via our service providers, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with data protection laws. These safeguards may include standard contractual clauses or other lawful transfer mechanisms. Further information about any such transfers can be requested from us.
9. How we protect your personal data
We implement technical and organisational measures designed to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include access controls, staff training, secure storage and disposal practices, and the use of reputable service providers that apply appropriate security standards. While no system can be completely secure, we aim to ensure that access to your personal data is limited to those who need it for legitimate business purposes.
10. Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are subject to certain conditions and exemptions, and we will respond to any requests in accordance with the law. Your rights include:
Right of access. You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, along with certain information about how it is used.
Right to rectification. You can request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure. In some circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.
Right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, such as while we are verifying its accuracy or dealing with an objection.
Right to data portability. In certain cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object. You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests, including profiling based on those interests, and we will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests and rights or where processing is necessary for legal claims. You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.
Rights relating to automated decision-making. You have rights in relation to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, where such decisions have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
To exercise any of your rights, you can contact us using the contact methods normally available to you as a customer. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.
11. Complaints and further information
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using your usual customer contact channels or by writing to our Barkingside premises. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom.
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. Any updated version will apply to all Storage Barkingside customers in the Barkingside area from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we use and protect your personal data.
