South Hornchurch Florist Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy details how South Hornchurch Florist ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, stores, and shares your personal data. It applies to all customers placing orders with South Hornchurch Florist, whether from South Hornchurch or surrounding districts. Our practices comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related data privacy laws. Please read this policy carefully to understand your rights and our responsibilities in handling your information.

What Data We Collect

In the course of operating our business and delivering our services, we collect and process various categories of personal information. The types of data we may collect from you include:

• Identity and Contact Data: Name, delivery address, billing address, telephone number, and other contact details.
• Order Details: Products ordered, message card texts, recipient details (name, address, contact number), and special delivery instructions.
• Payment Information: Payment method data (e.g., last four digits of bank card for reference), though we do not retain full card numbers or security codes.
• Website Usage Data: Information about your interactions with our website and digital services (e.g., IP address, browser type, device information, and cookies if applicable).
• Communication Data: Records of correspondence if you contact us with queries, feedback, or complaints.

We generally collect data directly from you when you place an order, register an account, or communicate with us. In some cases, data may be obtained from third party processors strictly for the purposes of fulfilling your order or handling payment.

Our Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

We rely on a variety of legal bases under GDPR for processing your personal data, including:

• Contract: Most data processing is necessary for the fulfilment of a contract, specifically to process orders, manage payments, and deliver products as requested by you.
• Legal Obligation: In certain circumstances, we process data to meet our statutory requirements, such as maintaining financial records or complying with requests from regulatory authorities.
• Legitimate Interests: We may process your data based on our legitimate business interests, provided these do not override your fundamental data protection rights. Legitimate interests include improving our services, managing business operations, and preventing fraud.
• Consent: Where required by law, we will seek your explicit consent, such as for direct marketing communications.

How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To process, manage, and deliver your flower orders.
• To communicate with you about your order status or respond to your queries.
• To collect payment and handle refunds or disputes.
• To maintain accurate business and accounting records.
• To improve our products, website, and customer service.
• To fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations.

How Long We Keep Your Data

South Hornchurch Florist retains personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes stated in this policy, including for legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. In general:

• Order and transaction data are retained for up to 7 years to comply with tax and accounting regulations.
• Customer contact and communication data are kept for up to 3 years after your last order or correspondence, unless otherwise required by law.
• If you have provided consent for marketing, we will retain your contact details until you withdraw consent.
• Non-identifiable website analytics data may be kept for longer, but this cannot be linked back to individuals.

Once the relevant retention period expires, your data will be securely erased or anonymized.

Who Processes Your Data

We may use third-party processors to provide certain services. These processors act on our behalf and are contractually bound to handle your data securely and in accordance with GDPR. Common instances of data sharing include:

• Payment Service Providers: For card payments and financial processing.
• Delivery Partners: Couriers and postal services for delivering floral orders.
• IT and Cloud Service Providers: For website hosting, payment processing, and data storage.
• Professional Advisors: Accountants and legal services when required.

We do not sell your personal data or share it for unrelated third-party marketing purposes. Your data may be transferred outside the UK or EEA only where necessary to fulfil your order and always with appropriate safeguards in place.

Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have important rights regarding your personal data. These include:

• Right of Access: To know what personal data we hold about you and receive a copy upon request.
• Right to Rectification: To have any incomplete or inaccurate data corrected.
• Right to Erasure: To request deletion of your data where legally permissible.
• Right to Restrict Processing: To limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: To obtain your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: To object to the processing of your data based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us with sufficient information to verify your identity. We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within one month, unless the request is complex or numerous, in which case we will inform you of any delay.

Protecting Your Data

We take the security of your data very seriously and have implemented appropriate organizational and technical safeguards to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or loss. These measures include secure data storage, encryption where appropriate, regular staff training, and restricted access to personal information.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We keep this policy under regular review and may update it as our business practices or legal requirements change. When significant changes are made, we will notify our customers as appropriate and update the review date at the end of this policy.

Contacting Us

If you have any concerns, would like to exercise your rights, or require further information about our privacy practices, please contact South Hornchurch Florist using the details available on our website or get in touch in store. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your personal information is handled with care.

This policy applies to all customers placing flower orders with South Hornchurch Florist from South Hornchurch and neighbouring districts.

Last updated: June 2024