Storage Kingston Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Kingston collects, uses, stores, and shares personal data relating to customers and prospective customers. It is intended to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Storage Kingston customers and enquirers within our service area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person at our facilities.
Who We Are and Scope of This Policy
Storage Kingston is a storage services provider operating within the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, Storage Kingston is the data controller in respect of the personal data that we collect and process about you. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used, and we are responsible for ensuring it is handled lawfully.
This Privacy Policy covers personal data processed in connection with enquiries, reservations, contracts for storage units or related services, payment of fees, and general communication with our staff or representatives.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:
Identification and contact data: name, postal address, billing address, contact address, and town or city of residence. We also collect data such as job title or company name if you are acting on behalf of a business.
Account and contract data: details of your storage unit or service, contract start and end dates, access permissions, communication preferences, and records of correspondence or notes relating to your account and enquiries.
Payment and transaction data: information about payments you make to us and related billing history. We do not store full payment card details. Where third party payment processors are used, they may collect card data directly.
Security and access data: records of visits to our facilities, entry and exit times captured by access control systems, and closed-circuit television footage recorded on our premises for security and safety purposes.
Technical and usage data: information gathered when you visit our website, such as IP address, device type, and pages visited, which helps us improve our services and maintain site security.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, sign a storage agreement, make a payment, correspond with us by post or in person, or when you access our premises and systems. We may also receive personal data indirectly from third parties such as payment processors, referencing agencies, or business partners where this is necessary to provide our services or verify information supplied to us.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the specific processing activity, this will be:
Contract: to take steps at your request before entering into a contract for storage services and to perform our contract with you. This includes managing your account, providing access to storage units, issuing invoices, and handling enquiries related to your agreement.
Legal obligation: to comply with our legal and regulatory duties, for example in relation to tax, accounting, health and safety, crime prevention, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests: to pursue our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override these. Our legitimate interests include managing and improving our services and facilities, ensuring the security and safety of our customers and staff, handling customer queries, preventing fraud and misuse of our premises, and maintaining accurate business records.
Consent: where required by law, we may rely on your consent for certain types of processing, such as optional marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To respond to enquiries, provide quotes, and assist with choosing appropriate storage options.
To set up and administer your storage agreement, including verifying identity where appropriate, managing access, and recording contact preferences.
To process payments, handle billing queries, and maintain financial and accounting records.
To protect our premises, assets, and individuals through access controls, security systems, and CCTV monitoring and to support the detection and prevention of crime.
To manage customer relationships, including responding to complaints, resolving issues, and providing customer support.
To operate and improve our website and services, monitor performance, and maintain information security.
To send you service-related communications that are necessary for the performance of your contract, such as notifications about access changes, payment reminders, or contract renewals.
To send you marketing communications about similar services where permitted by law and where you have not opted out of receiving such communications.
Data Sharing and Processors
We do not sell your personal data. We only share it where necessary and lawful. This may include sharing with:
Service providers acting as data processors who provide services such as payment processing, secure data hosting and storage, customer relationship management systems, CCTV and security system maintenance, and IT support. These processors are bound by contractual obligations to process your data only on our instructions and to keep it secure.
Professional advisers including auditors, accountants, or legal advisers where necessary to obtain professional services or to protect our legal rights.
Public authorities, law enforcement bodies, or regulators where required by law or where necessary to prevent or detect crime or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our customers, staff, or the public.
We take steps to ensure that any third party with whom we share personal data protects it in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.
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 regulatory reporting requirements.
In general, we keep customer account and contract data for a period after the end of your storage agreement so that we can answer queries, manage potential disputes, and comply with legal obligations. CCTV recordings and access records are typically retained for a shorter period, unless they are required for an ongoing investigation or legal proceedings.
When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it, so that it can no longer be associated with you.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may apply subject to certain conditions and exemptions:
Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we process it.
Right to rectification: you can request that we correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
Right to restriction: you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we check the accuracy of information.
Right to object: you can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests, including profiling based on those interests. You also have the absolute right to object at any time to your personal data being used for direct marketing.
Right to data portability: in some cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.
Where we rely on consent as our lawful basis, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before your withdrawal.
International Transfers
Where we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved by data protection authorities, to ensure your data is afforded equivalent protection.
Security of Your Data
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and regular review of our security practices. However, no transmission or storage system can be guaranteed as completely secure, and you share information with us at your own risk.
Updates to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. Any changes will take effect when the updated Privacy Policy is made available. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
