Privacy Policy - Northend Storage

Effective Date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Northend Storage customers in the area.

Northend Storage is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our storage services, visit our premises, communicate with us, or otherwise interact with us. It is written to align with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related data protection laws.

1. Who We Are

Northend Storage provides secure storage services to individuals and businesses. In the course of providing these services, we process personal data about customers, account holders, authorised users, visitors, and, where relevant, payment contacts and emergency contacts. We act as a data controller for the personal data we determine the purposes and means of processing.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to manage our relationship with you, deliver our services, maintain security, and comply with legal obligations. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identification details such as your name, date of birth, and verification documents where needed for identity checks.
Contact information such as postal address, email address, and telephone number.
Account and contract details such as storage unit number, agreement dates, billing records, and service preferences.
Payment information such as payment method details, transaction records, and invoicing data.
Security information such as access logs, CCTV recordings, gate entry records, alarm records, and incident reports.
Communications such as emails, letters, call notes, complaints, and customer service requests.
Technical data where applicable, such as device or system logs related to online interactions.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is provided by you and strictly necessary for a specific reason, such as supporting a legal claim or responding to an emergency. Where such data is processed, we do so only with a valid lawful basis and appropriate safeguards.

3. How We Use Your Data

Northend Storage uses personal data for the following purposes:

to set up and manage your storage account;
to provide storage services and maintain access control;
to process payments, invoices, and account administration;
to communicate with you about your agreement, service updates, or operational matters;
to maintain security, prevent misuse, and investigate incidents;
to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
to improve our services, procedures, and customer experience.

We only use your data for specified, legitimate purposes and we do not process it in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data under one or more of the lawful bases permitted by GDPR. These include:

Performance of a contract: when processing is necessary to provide storage services, manage your agreement, or take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Legal obligation: when processing is required to comply with tax, accounting, regulatory, safety, or record-keeping obligations.
Legitimate interests: when processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as securing our premises, preventing fraud, managing incidents, improving services, and protecting our rights, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Consent: where we rely on your freely given consent, such as for specific optional communications or uses not covered by another lawful basis. You may withdraw consent at any time.
Vital interests: in rare cases, where processing is necessary to protect someone’s life or physical safety.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we balance those interests against your privacy rights. Where appropriate, you can request further information about this balancing test.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business and deliver services. These parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We require processors to act only on our instructions, keep your data secure, and comply with data protection law.

Processors and Service Providers

IT and cloud service providers that host systems, maintain software, or support data storage and communications.
Payment processors and banking services that handle payments and financial transactions.
Security providers that assist with alarm systems, access control, CCTV, and site protection.
Administrative and professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, insurers, or legal advisers.
Maintenance and facilities contractors where access to limited data is required to support operations or safety.

We may also disclose personal data to law enforcement, regulators, courts, or other authorities where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, customers, staff, or property.

6. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal mechanisms. These safeguards are designed to protect your personal data to GDPR standards.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting, operational, or security requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Contract and account records: retained for the duration of the storage relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Payment and accounting records: retained for the period required by tax and financial legislation.
Security records: retained for a limited period unless needed longer for investigations, legal claims, or safety reasons.
Correspondence and complaints: retained for as long as necessary to address the matter and maintain records of resolution.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Security of Your Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff training, monitoring, encryption where appropriate, and physical security safeguards. No system is completely secure, but we work to reduce risks and respond quickly to any suspected incident.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, these may include:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain situations.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you make a request, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law. Some rights may be limited where processing is necessary for legal obligations, safety, fraud prevention, or the establishment of legal claims.

10. Automated Decision-Making

Northend Storage does not normally make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes, we will inform you and provide details of the logic involved and your rights.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended for children as independent customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is provided incidentally in connection with account administration or an emergency contact. Where we become aware that data has been collected improperly, we will take appropriate steps to delete or protect it.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data practices. Any updated version will apply from the effective date stated in the revised policy. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal data.

13. How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise your rights or raise a privacy concern, you should contact Northend Storage through the usual customer service or account management channels. We may ask for information to verify your identity and help us locate the relevant records. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Northend Storage customers in the area and is intended to provide a clear and lawful explanation of how personal data is handled.

Summary of our commitment: We collect only necessary data, process it lawfully, keep it secure, retain it for limited periods, use trusted processors, and respect your data protection rights.