Waste Collection Islington Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Islington collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data when you use our waste and recycling services. It applies to all Waste Collection Islington customers in the Islington area, including residential and business customers who request or receive our services.

We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act and to handling your personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent way. This Privacy Policy describes what data we collect, the lawful bases we rely on, how long we keep your data, how we share it with processors, and the rights you have over your data.

Who we are and how to contact us

Waste Collection Islington is the organisation responsible for providing waste, recycling and related environmental services in the Islington area. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller for the personal data we process about our customers.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the details provided on our main customer communication channels. Please clearly state that your query relates to data protection or the Privacy Policy so that it can be directed to the appropriate team.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process different types of personal data to deliver and manage our waste collection services. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identity and contact details, such as your name, address, property details, email address, telephone number and preferred contact method, so that we can set up and manage your waste collection service, contact you about your collections and respond to your enquiries.

Service and usage information, such as the type of property you occupy, the services you receive from us, the containers or bins allocated to your property, collection schedules, service history, missed collection reports, requests for special or additional collections, and records of any complaints, feedback or enquiries.

Financial and payment information, where applicable, such as payment status, payment method and basic billing information for services that are chargeable, for example certain commercial waste collections or special collection services.

Technical and communication data, such as information contained in emails, forms, telephone call logs and notes made by our staff when we respond to or manage your queries, requests or complaints.

Limited special category or sensitive information, only where you choose to provide it and where it is strictly necessary, for example health or mobility information relevant to assisted collections or other reasonable adjustments. We only process this type of information where the law allows and where it is essential to provide an appropriate service.

How we collect your personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a service, set up a collection, report a missed collection, make a complaint, apply for an assisted collection, or otherwise communicate with us. We also obtain information when you complete forms, respond to surveys, or speak with our staff in person or by phone.

We may receive information about you from other parts of the local authority or from partner organisations where this is necessary for the provision of waste services and is permitted by law, for example where data is shared internally to coordinate household services or verify eligibility for particular schemes.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the specific purpose, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Public task, where processing is necessary for us to perform tasks in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority in delivering waste collection and environmental services in the Islington area.

Contract, where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, particularly in relation to commercial waste services or paid-for collections.

Legal obligation, where we need to process your personal data to comply with laws and regulations that apply to us, including health and safety, environmental and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate interests, where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, and these are not overridden by your rights and freedoms, for example to improve our services, manage service performance or handle customer enquiries efficiently.

Consent, where you have given us clear consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose, for example optional communications or the use of certain special category information. You can withdraw your consent at any time, although this will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data to provide, manage and improve our waste collection services. This includes:

Registering and maintaining your waste, recycling and related services, including scheduling collections and managing containers or bins allocated to your property.

Communicating with you about your service, including service updates, changes to collection days, disruption notifications, safety information and responses to enquiries or complaints.

Managing billing and payments for any chargeable services, handling refunds and dealing with queries about invoices where applicable.

Monitoring the performance and quality of our services, handling complaints and disputes, and improving the design and efficiency of our collections and recycling schemes.

Carrying out necessary administrative and record-keeping tasks, complying with legal and regulatory obligations and cooperating with relevant authorities where required by law.

Data retention and storage

We keep your personal data only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason we collected it.

In general, customer contact and service records are retained for a defined period after your account or service ends, to allow us to respond to queries, manage disputes, comply with our legal obligations and maintain accurate records of services provided. Where data is no longer required, we securely delete, anonymise or destroy it.

Your personal data is stored securely and access is restricted to authorised staff and service providers who need it to carry out their duties. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration.

Data processors and sharing your information

We sometimes use carefully selected third party service providers, known as data processors, to carry out certain activities on our behalf. These may include providers that support our information technology systems, customer service systems, payment processing or other operational services related to waste collection.

Where we use processors, they are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes we specify. We require all processors to implement appropriate security measures and to protect your personal data in compliance with data protection law. They are not allowed to use your personal data for their own purposes.

We may also share your personal data with other organisations where this is necessary and lawful, for example with law enforcement agencies, regulators or other public bodies where we are legally required to do so, or where it is necessary to protect the public, our staff or our services.

International transfers

Where possible, we store and process your personal data within the United Kingdom. If we ever need to transfer your personal data to a country outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard data protection clauses or other legal mechanisms recognised under data protection law, to ensure that your rights are protected and that your data continues to be handled securely.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Waste Collection Islington customers in the Islington area, although the extent to which they apply may depend on the lawful basis for processing and on specific circumstances.

You have the right to be informed about how your data is used, which is the purpose of this Privacy Policy and any other privacy information we provide to you.

You have the right of access to the personal data we hold about you and to receive a copy of it, subject to some exemptions. You can also request information about how we process your data.

You have the right to rectification if you believe that any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete. We will correct or update the data where appropriate.

You have the right to erasure, sometimes known as the right to be forgotten, in certain circumstances where there is no lawful reason for us to continue processing your personal data. This right may be limited where we are required to retain data by law or where we need it for the performance of our public tasks.

You have the right to restrict processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we are considering a request for rectification or erasure, or where you have objected to our processing.

You have the right to object to processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests or public task as our lawful basis, and you believe your rights and interests outweigh our reasons for processing. We will consider your objection and stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or are required to continue for legal reasons.

You have the right to data portability in some cases where processing is based on consent or contract and is carried out by automated means. This allows you to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using our published contact channels and clearly state which right you wish to exercise and the nature of your request. We may need to verify your identity before responding to ensure that we protect your data appropriately.

Complaints and further information

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us in the first instance so that we can try to resolve your concerns. You also have the right to raise a concern or lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority for data protection if you are not satisfied with our response.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our practices or the applicable law. Any significant changes will be communicated through our usual customer information channels, and the latest version will always apply to how we handle your personal data.