Storage Bloomsbury Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Bloomsbury collects, uses and protects your personal data. It applies to all Storage Bloomsbury customers in our local service area, as well as prospective customers and anyone who contacts or interacts with us in relation to our storage services.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Personal data we collect
We collect and process personal data that is necessary for providing and managing our storage services. The types of personal data we may collect include:
Identity and contact details such as name, postal address, billing address, contact address, and any other contact details you choose to provide to us.
Account and contract information such as customer account numbers, contract start and end dates, storage unit details, pricing, payment terms and correspondence relating to your contract.
Payment and transaction information such as records of payments made, payment method used, payment status and associated invoice and receipt details. We do not store full card details; where card details are used, these are processed by our payment service providers.
Communication data such as emails, letters, forms, and records of telephone or in-person enquiries, including any information you choose to provide when communicating with us.
Usage and operational data such as dates and times of access to storage facilities where relevant for security and operational purposes, and any logs we are required to maintain to manage access and safety.
Security and CCTV data such as images recorded on CCTV systems installed in and around our premises, where used for security, safety, and crime prevention purposes.
Website and technical data where you interact with our online services, such as IP address, browser type, and basic analytics about how you use our website. This is limited to what is necessary to operate and improve our online services.
Purposes and lawful bases for processing
We process your personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we may rely on the following lawful bases:
Contract: We process your personal data to enter into, manage and perform our contract with you. This includes setting up and administering your storage account, providing access to your storage unit, issuing invoices, processing payments and handling service-related communications.
Legal obligation: We process personal data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as record‑keeping, tax and accounting requirements, health and safety regulations, fraud prevention and responding to lawful requests from authorities.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes ensuring security and safety at our facilities, improving our services, managing business operations, exercising or defending legal claims and preventing misuse of our services.
Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communications or non‑essential cookies on our website. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
How we use your personal data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide storage services to you, including managing reservations, contracts and customer accounts, enabling access to storage units and responding to service requests.
To manage billing and payments, including issuing invoices, processing payments, managing arrears and handling queries about charges.
To communicate with you, including sending important information about your contract, operational notices, changes to terms and conditions, and responses to your enquiries.
To maintain safety and security at our premises, including operating CCTV where installed, monitoring for unauthorised access and ensuring the protection of our customers, staff and property.
To manage our business operations, including auditing, quality control, training, risk management and the improvement of our services.
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including retaining records as required by law and cooperating with regulatory authorities.
Data retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
Customer account and contract data is typically retained for the duration of your contract and for a period afterwards as required to resolve disputes, respond to queries and comply with legal obligations. This period may vary depending on the type of data and the applicable legal requirements.
Financial and transaction records are retained for the time required under tax and accounting laws, which usually means several years after the end of the financial year in which the transaction occurred.
CCTV footage and access logs, where used, are normally retained for a short period that is appropriate for security and investigation purposes, unless a longer retention period is required due to an incident, legal claim or investigation.
Where we rely on consent for specific activities, we will retain the relevant personal data until you withdraw your consent or until the purpose for which it was collected has been fulfilled, whichever occurs first, subject to any legal obligations requiring longer retention.
Data processors and sharing of personal data
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties that act as data processors on our behalf. These processors only process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for specified purposes, and they are required to implement appropriate security measures.
Typical categories of processors include:
Payment service providers that process payments and handle related transaction data on our behalf.
IT and cloud service providers that host or support our business systems, customer databases and email services.
Security and maintenance providers that support the operation and security of our premises and systems, including CCTV system providers where relevant.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers who may need access to limited personal data in the course of providing services to us.
We may also share personal data where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, property, safety or the safety of others. This may include sharing information with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies or courts.
We do not sell your personal data. If in the future we are involved in a business reorganisation, merger or sale, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, in which case we will ensure that any recipient continues to handle your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.
International transfers
Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or where personal data may be accessed from outside the United Kingdom, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is protected with appropriate safeguards. These may include the use of standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved under data protection law.
Your data protection rights
As a customer of Storage Bloomsbury in our service area, and under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions.
Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and, if so, to request a copy of that data along with certain information about how we use it.
Right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct or complete any personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to erasure: You have the right to request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data 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.
Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing.
Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis, including profiling based on those interests. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or where processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you have the right to receive personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to request that we transmit that data to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office or another competent supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concerns.
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 way we deliver our services. Any updated version will apply to all Storage Bloomsbury customers in our area from the date it is published. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
