Self Storage Westminster Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Self Storage Westminster collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers, prospective customers, suppliers and visitors. It applies to all Self Storage Westminster customers and users of our services in the Westminster area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person at our facilities.
Self Storage Westminster is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a fair, transparent and lawful manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Data Controller
For the purposes of data protection law, Self Storage Westminster is the data controller for the personal data that we collect and process in connection with the operation of our self storage services in the Westminster area. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.
Personal Data We Collect
The personal data we collect will depend on the nature of your relationship with us, but may include the following categories:
Identification and contact details such as full name, postal address, billing address, contact address, date of birth, and any identification documents you provide for verification purposes, such as a passport or driving licence.
Contact information such as email address and any other electronic contact details you choose to provide, together with correspondence records including enquiries, complaints, and feedback.
Contract and account information such as storage unit number, contract start and end dates, rental terms, payment status, security deposit details, access authorisations, and history of your use of our services.
Payment and transaction data such as payment method, billing records, amounts paid, dates of payment, and transaction references. We do not store full payment card details once the transaction has been processed, but our payment processors may retain limited information for regulatory and accounting purposes.
Facility access and security information such as vehicle registration details where provided, access control logs, entry and exit times, and any incident or security reports involving you or your storage unit.
Closed circuit television images and recordings collected from CCTV systems in and around our premises for the purposes of security and crime prevention.
Marketing preferences and communication choices, including whether you have consented to receive marketing messages and your preferences regarding how you wish to be contacted.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, enter into a storage agreement, make a payment, create or manage an account with us, visit our facilities, or communicate with us in any way.
We may also receive personal data indirectly from third parties acting on your behalf, such as another person you authorise to manage your storage unit or make a booking, or from service providers who process payments or verify your identity where required.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, the legal grounds may include:
Performance of a contract where processing is necessary to provide our self storage services, enter into a storage agreement with you, administer your account, and fulfil our contractual obligations.
Compliance with legal obligations where we are required to process certain data to comply with applicable laws, such as tax, accounting, fraud prevention, law enforcement requests, and health and safety regulations.
Legitimate interests where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include ensuring the security of our premises, managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries, preventing fraud, recovering debts, and protecting our legal rights.
Consent where you have given clear consent for specific processing activities, such as receiving certain types of marketing communications that are not covered by our legitimate interests. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide and manage our self storage services, process bookings, administer contracts, allocate storage units, manage access, and respond to service requests.
To handle payments, issue invoices, manage billing, process refunds or credits, and keep accurate financial and accounting records.
To manage customer relationships, respond to your enquiries and complaints, and provide customer support and service updates relevant to your use of our facilities.
To maintain the safety and security of our premises, monitor access to storage units, investigate incidents, and help prevent and detect crime through use of CCTV and access logs.
To improve our services, monitor usage patterns, develop new features, conduct internal reporting and business planning, and train our staff.
To send you information about our services that we believe may be of interest to you, where this is permitted by law and in line with your communication preferences.
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights.
Data Sharing and Processors
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary and lawful. These may include:
Payment service providers who process card or electronic payments on our behalf.
IT and system support providers who host or maintain our business systems, access control systems, and data storage solutions.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers who assist us in running our business and meeting our legal obligations.
Debt collection agencies or credit control partners where it is necessary to recover unpaid amounts owed to us.
Security and maintenance contractors who support the safety and operation of our facilities.
Public authorities, law enforcement bodies, or regulators where we are required to disclose personal data by law or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.
Where we use third party service providers to process personal data on our behalf, they act as data processors and are contractually required to process personal data only under our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection laws.
Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal, accounting, and reporting obligations.
In general, we keep customer contract and billing records for a period required by law after the end of your relationship with us, typically to comply with tax and accounting rules and to handle any potential disputes or claims.
CCTV recordings and access logs are retained for a shorter period, generally only for as long as necessary for security, crime prevention, and investigation purposes, unless a longer retention period is required in connection with a specific incident.
Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, we will cease that processing once you withdraw your consent, unless another lawful basis applies. When personal data is no longer needed, it will be securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise removed from our systems.
International Transfers
Our core operations are based in the United Kingdom. If we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved by data protection authorities.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these include the right to:
Access your personal data and receive information about how it is processed.
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Erase your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no other lawful basis for retaining it.
Restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as when the accuracy of the data is contested or when you object to our processing.
Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and object to the use of your personal data for direct marketing at any time.
Request the portability of personal data you have provided to us where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on your consent. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include access controls, physical security of our premises, staff training, and regular review of our data handling practices.
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 offer. Any updated version will apply to all personal data from the date it is published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we process and protect your personal data.
