Self Storage Balham Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Self Storage Balham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
This Privacy Policy applies to all Self Storage Balham customers and prospective customers in the Balham area who use, enquire about, or otherwise interact with our self storage services, whether in person, via our website, through written correspondence or by any other means.
Data Controller
Self Storage Balham is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed and are responsible for ensuring that such processing is carried out in compliance with applicable data protection laws.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on your relationship with us and the services you use. The types of data we may collect include:
Identification and contact details: name, postal address, billing address, contact address, date of birth, and other basic identity information.
Communication details: email address, communication preferences, and records of your communications with us, such as enquiries, complaints or feedback.
Contract and service information: storage unit number, contract dates, payment history, details of the services you use, and any additional options associated with your storage unit.
Payment and billing information: payment method details such as partial card information as processed through our payment provider, invoices, receipts, and records of transactions. We do not store full payment card details when processed by a secure payment provider.
Security and access data: access code or key number, vehicle registration details where relevant, and, if in use at the premises, CCTV footage for security and safety purposes.
Technical data: information about your use of our website such as IP address, browser type, device identifiers, dates and times of access, pages viewed, and basic cookie data where used.
Marketing preferences: records of your consent to receive marketing communications and your preferences or objections.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data in a variety of ways, including:
Information you provide directly to us when you make an enquiry, request a quote, sign a storage agreement, make a payment, or contact us with a question or complaint.
Information generated when you use our services, including details of your storage unit, payment history, and access records related to our facilities.
Information collected when you use our website, including technical and usage data captured through server logs and basic analytics tools.
Information from third parties where permitted by law, such as payment processors, identity verification services or credit reference agencies, used solely for purposes related to providing and managing your storage services.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the specific processing, we rely on one or more of the following legal grounds:
Performance of a contract: we process personal data that is necessary to provide self storage services, enter into and fulfil our agreement with you, manage your account, take payment, and provide customer support.
Compliance with a legal obligation: we process certain information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as tax, accounting, prevention of fraud, and law enforcement requests.
Legitimate interests: we process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This can include securing our premises with CCTV, recovering debts, improving our services, managing business operations, and keeping records of communications.
Consent: in limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing where consent is required. When we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide and manage storage services, including processing your application, setting up your storage unit, issuing access credentials, and maintaining our contract with you.
To take and process payments, issue invoices and receipts, and maintain accurate financial and accounting records.
To respond to enquiries, provide customer support, handle complaints, and communicate with you about your storage services.
To maintain the safety and security of our premises, staff, customers and property, including the use of CCTV and access records where in operation.
To send you service updates, notices about your account, changes to our terms or this Privacy Policy, and information relating to renewals, arrears or operational matters.
To conduct internal audits, data analysis, and service improvements, and for general business administration.
To send you marketing communications about our services where you have consented or where the law otherwise allows. You can opt out of marketing at any time.
Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
Customer account and contract records are generally retained for a period after the end of your storage agreement, in line with statutory limitation periods and accounting obligations. Payment and transaction records are kept for periods required by tax and financial regulations. CCTV footage, if used, is retained for a limited time appropriate to security needs, unless required for a specific investigation. Where data is kept for longer for legal or regulatory reasons, access to it is restricted to those who need it for that purpose.
When personal data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.
Data Processors and Sharing of Personal Data
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors may include:
IT and system providers who supply and maintain our booking, customer management, storage access or communication systems.
Payment service providers who process card and other payments securely on our behalf.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers, where necessary for the services they provide to us.
Security service providers who assist with site security, access systems and, where applicable, CCTV operation.
These third parties are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes we specify. They are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures and they must not use your data for their own purposes.
We may also share personal data with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies or other third parties when required by law or where this is necessary to protect our rights, property or the safety of our customers or others.
International Transfers
Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or where data is stored in or accessed from such locations, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is protected in accordance with applicable data protection laws. This may include the use of approved standard contractual clauses or ensuring that the destination country has been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection laws, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to specific conditions or exemptions but generally include:
Right of access: you have the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you, together with certain information about how it is used.
Right to rectification: you have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data is corrected or updated.
Right to erasure: you may, in some circumstances, request that we delete your personal data. This right is not absolute and may be subject to legal or contractual retention obligations.
Right to restriction: you may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised.
Right to object: you have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and the right to object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing.
Right to data portability: in certain cases, you have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to request that we transmit that data to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are concerned about how your data is being used. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concerns directly.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. Measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff training, and regular review of our security procedures. However, no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security of data transmitted or stored electronically.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or the services we provide. Any updated version will be made available through our usual communication channels and will include a revised date. You should review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we process your personal data, you can contact us using the details made available through our usual communication channels.
