Privacy Policy for Waste Collection Haringey Services

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Haringey collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when providing waste and recycling services. It applies to all Waste Collection Haringey customers and service users within the Haringey area, including residents, businesses and other organisations that use our services.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data controller and how to contact us

The data controller for personal data described in this Privacy Policy is Waste Collection Haringey. We determine the purposes and means of processing personal data related to our waste and recycling services in Haringey.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our main communication channels or service documents.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and users of Waste Collection Haringey services within the Haringey area. This includes individuals, households, landlords, letting agents, housing providers, local businesses, community organisations and any other parties who request or receive waste, recycling or related services from us.

By using our services, contacting us or providing your information to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process personal data that is necessary for delivering and managing waste collection and related services. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as name, address, email address, telephone number and, where applicable, business or organisation details.

Service information such as details of the service address, type of service requested, size and type of bins or containers, collection schedules, special collection requirements and service history.

Communication records such as information you provide when you contact us by phone, email, online forms, post or in person, including complaints, queries, service requests and feedback.

Billing and payment information such as records of payments, invoices, account references and details necessary to manage service charges, but not card details processed directly by secure payment providers.

Operational, safety and compliance information such as records of site visits, photographs related to service provision, notes on contamination or misuse of containers, and evidence collected in relation to waste offences or non-compliance with service rules.

Technical and usage data such as limited device or system information captured when you interact with our digital tools or online services, to the extent necessary for security, troubleshooting and improving service delivery.

How we collect your personal data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you request services, complete forms, contact us, create or update an account, make a complaint, provide feedback, or interact with our staff in person, by phone or through other channels.

We may also receive personal data from third parties where necessary for providing our services or meeting our legal responsibilities. This can include local authorities, housing providers, landlords, letting agents, managing agents, partner organisations and service providers acting on our behalf.

Lawful bases for processing your personal data

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contractual necessity where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing regular waste collection, arranging special collections, or managing a commercial waste agreement.

Legal obligation where we must process your data to comply with legal duties, waste management regulations, environmental legislation, health and safety requirements or statutory reporting obligations.

Legitimate interests where processing is necessary for our legitimate business and operational interests or those of a third party, and these are not overridden by your rights and interests. This includes managing and improving services, preventing misuse or fraud, ensuring security, handling queries and complaints, and planning service provision.

Consent where we rely on your clear and explicit consent for specific activities, such as certain optional communications. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data to:

Provide, manage and deliver waste and recycling services in Haringey, including collection, disposal, recycling and associated activities.

Set up, administer and maintain service accounts and records for households, businesses and other customers.

Arrange and manage special collections, bulky waste collections and additional or amended services you request.

Communicate with you about your services, including notifications, operational changes, service disruptions, appointment confirmations and responses to your queries.

Issue and manage invoices, process payments, maintain financial records and recover outstanding sums where applicable.

Monitor service performance, manage complaints, handle disputes and ensure service quality and customer care.

Investigate and address misuse of services, contamination of recycling, fly tipping, unlawful waste disposal or breaches of waste-related rules or contractual terms.

Meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including record-keeping, reporting, health and safety, risk management and environmental compliance.

Improve and plan our services, including analysing service usage, forecasting demand and supporting operational decision-making.

Sharing your personal data and our processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary and lawful. These parties act either as data processors on our behalf or as separate data controllers with their own responsibilities.

Processors that act on our instructions may include waste management contractors, recycling facility operators, IT and system support providers, customer service providers, payment processing providers, document storage and disposal providers and other professional advisers.

Where we use processors, we ensure there are appropriate contracts in place requiring them to protect your personal data, use it only on our documented instructions and maintain suitable security measures.

We may also share personal data with local authorities, regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, courts, insurers and other organisations where required by law, to protect public interests, to prevent or detect crime, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal data. Any sharing is limited to what is necessary and proportionate for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

Data retention and storage

We keep personal data only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the context of our relationship with you.

In general, we will retain:

Service account and contact records for the duration of your use of our services and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle queries, disputes and legal obligations.

Financial and billing records for the period required by tax, financial and audit regulations.

Complaint, incident and enforcement records for as long as needed to manage the case, prevent recurrence and comply with legal requirements.

At the end of the relevant retention period, we will securely delete or anonymise your personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you.

Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, secure systems, employee training and secure disposal practices for data that is no longer required.

While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data, no system can be completely secure. We continuously review and improve our security arrangements in line with legal requirements and good practice.

Your data protection rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have several rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights are subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions and may not apply in every circumstance. Your rights include:

Right of access the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data.

Right to rectification the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Right to erasure the right to request deletion of your personal data in certain situations, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal basis for retention.

Right to restriction the right to ask us to limit the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection.

Right to object the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds or the processing is required for legal claims.

Right to data portability the right, in certain situations, to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to request its transfer to another controller where technically feasible.

Where we process personal data on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before it was withdrawn.

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using our usual contact details. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Complaints and contact

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to raise a concern with the relevant supervisory authority for data protection law in the United Kingdom.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or how we process personal data. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.