Storage Harold Wood Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Harold Wood collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you use our self storage services. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy applies to all Storage Harold Wood customers in our service area, including prospective customers, current customers, past customers, and authorised users of any storage unit or related service.
By using our services, visiting our premises, or otherwise interacting with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review it carefully and contact us if you have any questions about how we handle your personal data.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data about you, depending on how you engage with Storage Harold Wood. The main categories of data we may collect include:
Identification data such as your full name, date of birth, and a copy of identification documents where required for verification purposes.
Contact details such as your postal address, billing address, and any alternative contact address you provide.
Account and contract information such as your customer account number, storage unit number, contract start and end dates, payment history, and correspondence related to your storage agreement.
Payment and billing data such as partial payment card information processed through secure payment providers, bank details where necessary for certain payment methods, and records of invoices and receipts.
Security and access data such as CCTV footage recorded on our premises, access logs for our facility and units, vehicle registration numbers if recorded, and records of any incidents or security reports.
Communication data such as records of your communications with us, including enquiries, complaints, and service feedback, whether provided in person, by post, or through other channels you use to contact us.
Technical data such as basic information about how you access our online content, including device type and general location, to support security and service performance. We do not seek to identify individuals from this information unless required for security or legal reasons.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data from you directly when you:
Request a quote or information about our services.
Sign a storage agreement or related contract.
Make a payment or request a refund.
Visit our premises, including car parks and reception areas.
Communicate with us for customer service or support.
We may also collect data from other sources where lawful, such as authorised persons you nominate on your account, payment service providers, or public records where we need to verify identity or prevent fraud.
Lawful Basis for Processing
Storage Harold Wood processes personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under data protection law. Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
Contract: We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract for storage or related services, for example to set up your account, manage your unit, take payment, or communicate with you about your contract.
Legal obligation: We process certain data because we are required to do so by law, such as for tax, accounting, security, and regulatory purposes, or to comply with lawful requests from authorities.
Legitimate interests: We process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This includes improving our services, ensuring site security, preventing fraud, and managing our relationship with you. When we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and apply appropriate safeguards.
Consent: In limited cases we may ask for your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, and we will explain how to do this when we ask for your consent.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide storage and related services, including setting up and managing your account, allocating units, administering your contract, and handling enquiries or support requests.
To process payments and manage billing, including issuing invoices, processing card or bank payments through secure processors, and managing any outstanding balances.
To maintain security and safety at our premises, including monitoring CCTV, controlling access to units, managing alarms, and investigating incidents or suspected unlawful activity.
To communicate with you about your account and services, including contract updates, changes to our terms, notices regarding your unit, and service information.
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including record-keeping, responding to lawful requests from public authorities, and fulfilling tax and accounting requirements.
To manage and improve our business, including analysing service usage, developing our offering, and ensuring the effective running of our operations.
Data Retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Storage contracts and account records are usually kept for a set period after your contract ends, so we can address queries or disputes and comply with legal obligations. Payment and transaction records are retained in line with tax and financial regulations. CCTV footage is kept for a limited period, unless it is required for the investigation of an incident, for legal proceedings, or for law enforcement purposes.
When we no longer need your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it in a secure manner.
Data Sharing and Processors
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties that act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to handle your data according to our instructions and must implement appropriate security measures. Typical categories of processors include:
Payment service providers that process card or bank transactions securely.
IT and cloud service providers that host our systems and data.
Security and access control providers that support CCTV, alarm systems, and gate or unit access technology.
Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary to support our business and comply with legal obligations.
We may also share data with law enforcement agencies, regulators, courts, or other third parties where required by law, to protect our rights or the rights of others, or in connection with legal proceedings or the sale or transfer of our business.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
International Transfers
If we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area through our service providers, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as approved standard contractual clauses or other lawful transfer mechanisms, and we will comply with relevant data protection laws.
How We Protect Your Data
We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use a combination of technical and organisational measures to protect your information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include controlled access to systems and premises, encryption and secure storage where appropriate, staff training on data protection responsibilities, and regular review of our security practices.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Storage Harold Wood customers in our service area, subject to certain legal conditions and exceptions:
Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You can request that we correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected and we have no other legal basis for retaining it.
Right to restriction: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while we verify its accuracy or assess an objection you have raised.
Right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is required for legal claims.
Right to data portability: You can request that we provide certain personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, or that we transmit it directly to another controller where technically feasible and where the legal basis permits this.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details made available through our usual communication channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond within the time limits set by law.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal or regulatory developments, or our data protection practices. Any updates will take effect when the revised policy is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
