1. Who is responsible for your data

SM Van Services Glasgow Ltd (company number SC778267), trading as SM Waste Services Glasgow, 87 North Dryburgh Road, Coltness, Wishaw, ML2 7LD, Scotland, is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Contact us about privacy at Smvanservices@gmail.com or on 07789 072813.

This policy applies to our website smwasteservices.co.uk, our online booking and quote forms, and personal data we collect when you contact us or use our services. We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).

2. What we collect

Contact and booking details: your name, phone number, email address, collection address and postcode, whether you are a domestic or business customer, and any access notes or instructions you give us.
Details of the job: the service, load size or items booked, the collection date and slot, notes about the waste, and photographs of the waste you upload or send to us by WhatsApp, email or message.
Photographs our crew take of the waste before, during and after collection, and of the collection area, for our records and to prepare your waste transfer note.
Payment information: the amount, method and date of payment. Card payments are handled by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers.
Communications: messages, emails, call notes and reviews you send us.
Website data: your IP address, device and browser type, pages visited and how you reached the site, collected through cookies and similar technologies if you consent to analytics (see section 7).
Team accounts: for staff who use our dashboard, name, email address, a securely hashed password, role and sign-in activity.

We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18, and our services are for adults.

3. Why we use it and our lawful basis

To provide the service you have booked, confirm it, send updates such as "on our way" messages, take payment and issue your waste transfer note: performance of a contract with you (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR).
To prepare, issue and keep waste transfer notes and other records that the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 and the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require a registered waste carrier to keep, and to respond to requests from SEPA, local authorities or the police: compliance with a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)).
To give quotes, answer enquiries, handle complaints, defend or bring legal claims, prevent fraud and keep our staff safe: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)), balanced against your rights.
To keep accounting and tax records: legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)).
To send you occasional service messages about our own similar services after you have been a customer, with an easy opt-out in every message: legitimate interests under the "soft opt-in" in regulation 22 of PECR. We do not send marketing to people who are not customers without their consent, and we never sell your data.
To use analytics cookies on our website: your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time in the cookie settings.
To use photographs of a job in our marketing (never showing your name, house number or anything that identifies you): your consent, which we will ask for separately.

We share personal data only where necessary, with:

The licensed waste transfer station or treatment facility that receives your waste, which receives the description of the waste and the details recorded on the waste transfer note.
Service providers who help us run the business and who act on our instructions under written contracts: our website hosting and email provider, text-message and WhatsApp messaging services, our payment provider, accounting software and, where you consent, Google Analytics.
Subcontracted crews or vehicles, on the rare occasions we use them, who receive only the details needed to carry out your collection.
SEPA, local authorities, the police, HMRC, courts and our insurers and professional advisers where the law requires it or it is necessary to deal with a claim.

Some providers, including Google, may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens we rely on the UK adequacy regulations, the UK extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, or the International Data Transfer Agreement approved by the Information Commissioner, so that your data has protection equivalent to UK law.

5. How long we keep it

Waste transfer notes and the booking details needed to support them: at least 2 years from the transfer, as required for duty-of-care records, and normally 6 years alongside our accounting records.
Bookings, invoices and payment records: 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to, to meet HMRC and Companies Act requirements and the Scottish limitation period for contract claims (5 years) with a margin.
Photographs of waste: until the job is complete and any query or claim period has passed, normally 12 months, unless they form part of the waste transfer note record.
Quote requests that do not become bookings: 12 months.
Enquiries and messages: 2 years.
Website analytics data: as set by the retention period in Google Analytics, currently 14 months.
Staff account records: for the period of employment or engagement and 6 years afterwards.

When data is no longer needed we delete or anonymise it securely.

6. Security

Our website is served over HTTPS. Team dashboard access is protected by individual accounts with hashed passwords, signed session cookies that expire automatically and limits on failed sign-in attempts. Personal data is held on access-controlled systems and only the people who need it to do their job can see it. No system is completely secure; if we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to put your rights at risk we will tell you and the Information Commissioner as the law requires.

7. Cookies and similar technologies

Strictly necessary cookies: our website sets a session cookie only when a member of our team signs in to the dashboard. It is essential for that function and does not need consent. Booking as a customer does not require an account or a cookie.

Analytics cookies (optional): if you accept analytics in our cookie banner we load Google Analytics 4, which sets cookies to measure how the site is used, with IP addresses anonymised. We use this to improve the site and to see which pages lead to bookings. If you do not accept, Google Analytics is not loaded and no analytics cookies are set. You can change your choice at any time using the "Cookie settings" link in the footer, or by clearing cookies in your browser.

Preferences stored in your browser: your cookie choice is stored in your browser's local storage so we do not ask you again.

We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Embedded content such as the Google Map on our contact page loads only when you click to show it, and Google may set its own cookies at that point under Google's privacy policy.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you (subject access);
ask us to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete;
ask us to erase your data, where we no longer need it or you withdraw consent, unless we must keep it (for example waste transfer note and accounting records);
ask us to restrict how we use your data while a query is resolved;
object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including to direct marketing, which we will always stop;
receive the data you gave us in a portable format;
withdraw consent at any time where consent is our lawful basis.

To exercise any right, email Smvanservices@gmail.com. We will respond within one month and will not charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive. We may ask you to confirm your identity first.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

9. Automated decisions and profiling

We do not make decisions about you using automated processing that has a legal or similarly significant effect. Our online booking calculates a price from the options you choose; a member of our team reviews every booking.

10. Changes to this policy

We will publish any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your data we will tell existing customers by email or text where we can.

Privacy Policy