Storage Swiss Cottage Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Swiss Cottage collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers using our storage services in the Storage Swiss Cottage area. It is intended to meet the requirements of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws.
By using our services, making an enquiry or otherwise interacting with Storage Swiss Cottage, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Scope and Data Controller
This Privacy Policy applies to all individual customers and prospective customers of Storage Swiss Cottage in the Storage Swiss Cottage area, including anyone who visits our premises, makes an enquiry, uses our storage units, or otherwise interacts with us as part of our storage services.
Storage Swiss Cottage is the data controller in respect of the personal data that we collect and process about you. As data controller, we determine the purposes and means of the processing of your personal data and are responsible for ensuring that such processing is compliant with applicable data protection laws.
Personal Data We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you enquire about, sign up for, or use our storage services:
Identification and contact information such as name, postal address, billing address, and any other similar contact details you provide to us.
Contract and account information such as unit number, access permissions, rental agreements, start and end dates of storage contracts, payment status, and related records.
Payment related information such as limited payment details necessary to process your payments. Where payments are processed through a payment processor, we receive confirmation of payment and necessary references but do not retain full card details.
Communication records such as information you provide when you contact us in person or by any other communication method, including enquiries, complaints and other correspondence.
Security and access information such as CCTV footage in and around our premises, access logs, entry codes or fob identifiers where these are linked to individual customers, and incident reports.
Technical or usage data such as basic device or browser information where necessary to provide or secure online booking or account portals, to the extent that these are used for our services.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the specific processing, we may rely on the following lawful bases:
Performance of a contract. We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a storage contract with you, including administering your booking, managing your unit, processing payments, and providing customer support.
Compliance with legal obligations. We process certain personal data to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, for example relating to tax, accounting, record keeping, security and health and safety.
Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include ensuring the security of our premises and units, preventing and detecting crime or fraud, managing and improving our business operations, and handling customer enquiries.
Consent. In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain forms of direct marketing or communications not covered by our legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you are free to withdraw it at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To set up, manage and administer your storage contract, including confirming bookings, handling check in and check out, and maintaining account records.
To process payments and manage billing, including issuing invoices, receipts and reminders where necessary.
To communicate with you about your contract, enquiries or requests, such as sending important notices about access, safety, changes to terms and other relevant service information.
To ensure the safety and security of our customers, staff, premises and stored goods, including by operating CCTV systems and monitoring access.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including those relating to taxation, accounting, law enforcement requests and health and safety.
To manage and improve our business, for example by reviewing service usage, responding to feedback, training staff, and maintaining appropriate records.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Customer contract and billing records are generally retained for a period required under applicable tax and accounting laws following the end of the relevant storage contract, after which they are securely deleted or anonymised unless longer retention is required by law or necessary in connection with ongoing disputes or claims.
CCTV footage and access logs are retained for a limited period necessary for security and incident investigation purposes, unless they are required longer in relation to a specific incident, dispute or legal obligation.
Communications and enquiry records are retained while they remain relevant to our dealings with you and for a reasonable period thereafter, consistent with our legitimate interests and legal obligations.
When personal data is no longer required, we will ensure it is deleted, anonymised or otherwise disposed of safely and securely.
Data Processors and Sharing of Personal Data
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors only process personal data in accordance with our instructions, for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, and are subject to contractual obligations to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.
Such processors may include payment processing providers, providers of premises security and CCTV maintenance, information technology and system support providers, document storage and destruction services, and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary in connection with our business and legal obligations.
We may also share personal data with third parties where required by law, regulation or legal process, for example with law enforcement or regulatory authorities, or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We do not sell your personal data. Any sharing of personal data is limited to what is necessary for the relevant purpose and is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
International Data Transfers
Where we use service providers or systems located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations for the destination country or contractual protections such as standard contractual clauses.
Your Data Protection Rights
You have a number of rights in relation to the personal data that we hold about you, subject to certain conditions and exemptions under data protection law.
Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, to request a copy of that personal data and certain information about how we process it.
Right to rectification. You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning you.
Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.
Right to restriction of processing. In certain situations, you may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, for example while we verify the accuracy of the data or consider an objection you have raised.
Right to object. You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will consider such objections and stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or the processing is required for legal claims.
Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and is carried out by automated means, you may 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 it to another controller where technically feasible.
Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include physical security at our premises, restricted access to personal data, and appropriate policies, procedures and staff training.
While we take reasonable steps to secure your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You should also take care to keep any access codes, passwords or other security information relating to your use of our services safe and confidential.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or the way we process personal data. Any changes will be made available in an updated version of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
