Privacy Policy - Portugal Removals

Effective Date: This Privacy Policy explains how Portugal Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with the services we provide. It applies to all Portugal Removals customers in our service area, including individuals who request quotes, book removals, storage, packing, or related support services.

1. Introduction

Portugal Removals is committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. We respect the privacy of our customers, prospective customers, suppliers, and other individuals whose data we process in the course of providing our services. This Privacy Policy is designed to explain what personal data we collect, why we collect it, the legal grounds we rely on, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

By using our services or communicating with us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy. We recommend reading this document carefully so that you understand how your information is handled.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary for the provision and management of our services. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and identification information where required for service administration.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and other communication details.
Service information: moving dates, property details, inventory items, access information, delivery instructions, and service preferences.
Billing and payment data: invoicing details, payment records, and transaction information.
Correspondence: messages, enquiries, complaints, and records of communications with us.
Technical data: limited information such as device or browser details when you interact with our digital systems, where applicable.
Special category data: we do not ordinarily seek to collect sensitive personal data. If such data becomes necessary for a particular service, we will only process it where a lawful basis applies and additional safeguards are in place.

We collect data directly from you when you request a quote, arrange a move, submit a form, or otherwise communicate with us. We may also receive information from third parties where this is necessary to perform the service, such as property representatives, insurers, or professional partners acting on your behalf.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide removal, packing, storage, and related services;
to prepare quotes and assess service requirements;
to manage bookings, deliveries, access arrangements, and scheduling;
to communicate with customers about their services;
to issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records;
to handle complaints, claims, disputes, and customer support matters;
to comply with legal, accounting, tax, and regulatory obligations;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
to improve service quality, operational efficiency, and internal processes.

We will only use personal data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected or in other ways permitted by law. We do not sell personal data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the activity, we may rely on one or more of the following bases:

Contract: we process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging a move or delivering storage services.
Legal obligation: we process data where required to comply with tax, accounting, transport, insurance, or other applicable laws.
Legitimate interests: we may process data to operate, secure, and improve our business, provided our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include customer administration, service optimisation, and fraud prevention.
Consent: in limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for specific optional processing. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

If we need to process special category data, we will only do so where a further condition under Article 9 GDPR applies, and we will apply appropriate safeguards.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to deliver our services or meet our legal obligations. These parties act either as independent controllers or as processors acting on our instructions.

Processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers;
customer management and communication tools;
accounting, invoicing, and payment service providers;
storage or logistics partners;
professional advisers such as legal, tax, or insurance advisers;
subcontracted crews or specialist service providers supporting our operations.

Where processors are used, they are required to act only on our documented instructions and to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. We seek to ensure that any third party handling personal data is bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where necessary to protect our rights, property, staff, or customers.

6. International Transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with GDPR. These safeguards may include adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal protections. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data remains protected to a standard consistent with applicable law.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Contract and service records: retained for the duration of the customer relationship and a reasonable period afterwards to manage claims or enquiries.
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by applicable law.
Correspondence and complaint records: retained as long as needed to resolve matters and support audit or legal obligations.
Marketing or consent-based data: retained until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely archive it in accordance with our retention procedures.

8. Security of Personal Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and procedures for managing data incidents. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data protection seriously and continuously review our safeguards.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exceptions, these rights may include:

Right of access: to obtain confirmation of whether we process your data and to receive a copy of it;
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances;
Right to restriction: to request limited processing of your data in some situations;
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format and have it transferred where technically feasible;
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request. We will respond within the time limits set by GDPR and applicable law.

How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, submit a clear request describing the data or processing concern. We may ask for information needed to confirm your identity and to locate the relevant records. If we are unable to comply with a request, we will explain the reason, subject to legal restrictions.

10. Complaints

If you believe your personal data has been handled unlawfully or that your rights have been infringed, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in your jurisdiction. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so that we can try to resolve the matter promptly and fairly.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data protection practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

12. Final Statement

This Privacy Policy applies to all Portugal Removals customers in area and is intended to provide a clear explanation of how we process personal data in compliance with the GDPR. By using our services, you acknowledge that your information will be handled in accordance with this policy, applicable law, and the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality. We are committed to treating personal data with respect and care at every stage of our service delivery.