Storage Forestdale Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Forestdale collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data. It applies to all Storage Forestdale customers in our service area, as well as prospective customers and visitors who interact with us in person, by telephone, or through our online services.
Storage Forestdale is committed to complying with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws. We encourage you to read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand how and why we use your personal data and the choices available to you.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. This may include:
Identity and contact information, such as your full name, postal address, billing address, contact address, and other identifying details necessary to provide you with storage services.
Account and contract information, such as customer reference numbers, storage unit numbers, contract start and end dates, rental terms, access permissions, and related records necessary to manage your account.
Payment and billing information, such as the payment method you use, partial card details where required for transaction processing, payment history, and invoicing records. We do not store full card details when this is not necessary for the transaction.
Communication records, such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and any correspondence you send to us or we send to you in relation to your storage arrangements or our services.
Security and access data, such as vehicle registration details where used for site access, key or code allocation, access logs to the facility, incident reports, and recordings from CCTV systems installed for security and safety purposes.
Technical and usage data, when you use our online services, which may include device identifiers, IP address, approximate location data, and details of how you use our website or online tools, collected through standard logging or similar technologies.
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, enter into a contract, visit our site, or otherwise use our services. We may also receive limited data from third parties, for example identity or fraud prevention checks where required by law or to protect our legitimate interests.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the specific processing activity, this may include:
Contractual necessity. We process your data to enter into and perform our contract with you, including setting up your account, providing storage services, taking payment, managing access, communicating with you about your booking, and handling any issues that arise.
Legal obligations. We process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as accounting and tax obligations, security and safety requirements, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests. We process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. These interests may include the security and protection of our facilities, prevention and detection of crime, managing our customer relationships, maintaining and improving our services, and exercising or defending legal claims.
Consent. In limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example for certain forms of marketing communication or the use of specific optional cookies or similar technologies. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data only for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or for closely related purposes. These include:
Providing and managing your storage services, including setting up your booking, allocating and managing units, and administering contracts.
Processing payments, issuing invoices, and managing any arrears or disputes relating to charges for our services.
Communicating with you about your account, contract renewals, changes to our terms, operational notices, and responses to your enquiries.
Maintaining safety and security at our facilities, including controlling and monitoring access and using CCTV for the prevention and detection of crime and for the protection of customers, staff, and property.
Carrying out internal management, reporting and auditing, quality control, and service improvement activities.
Sending you information about our services, promotions, or offers where permitted by law or where you have given consent. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.
In general, we keep your core customer and contract information for the duration of your relationship with us and for a period after your contract ends in order to respond to queries, manage disputes, comply with legal requirements, and maintain adequate business records. The exact retention period may vary depending on the type of data, the nature of the services and our regulatory obligations.
Security and access records, including CCTV recordings and access logs, are retained for a shorter period unless required for the investigation of an incident, the establishment or defence of legal claims, or compliance with legal obligations.
When personal data is no longer required, we either securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.
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 may provide services such as payment processing, secure data storage, accounting support, IT hosting and maintenance, CCTV and security systems, or customer management tools.
When we use data processors, we ensure that appropriate contractual safeguards are in place to require them to process your personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection laws.
We may also share your personal data in the following circumstances:
With professional advisers and insurers where necessary for the management of our business, risk, and legal obligations.
With law enforcement agencies, courts, regulators, or other public authorities where we are legally required to do so or where this is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
With another organisation in the context of a business transfer, merger, reorganisation, or similar corporate event, where permitted by law and subject to appropriate safeguards.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under the UK GDPR you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:
The right of access. You can request information about whether we hold personal data about you and obtain a copy of that data, along with certain information about how it is processed.
The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
The 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 purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.
The right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict the use of your personal data in certain cases, such as while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised.
The right to data portability. In specific circumstances you may request that we provide you or another organisation with a copy of certain personal data in a commonly used, machine readable format.
The right to object. You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis, including profiling, and we will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue. You also have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.
The right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has been processed in a way that does not comply with data protection law. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can attempt to resolve your concerns directly.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include controls over access to buildings and systems, secure storage and handling of records, and staff training on data protection responsibilities.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any updates will be made available in our usual customer communication channels. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use your personal data.
