Portugal Removals Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Portugal Removals collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its services. It applies to all Portugal Removals customers within our service area, including prospective, current and former customers, as well as individuals who contact us about our removal and related services.

Portugal Removals is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws. We process personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, and we only collect data that is necessary for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.

Data Controller

For the purposes of the GDPR, Portugal Removals is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data and are responsible for ensuring that such processing complies with applicable data protection law.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:

Identification and contact details such as name, postal address, service address, billing address and other contact information.

Communication details such as information you provide when you contact us by any means, including the content of messages, queries, complaints and any follow-up correspondence.

Service-related information such as details of properties, access information for removals, inventory details, collection and delivery dates and times, and specific instructions related to your move or associated services.

Contract and billing information such as records of services ordered, quotes, contracts, invoices, payment status and basic payment transaction records. We do not store full payment card details; where card payments are processed, these are handled by secure third-party payment service providers.

Technical and usage information such as basic usage data generated when you visit our website, including date and time of access and pages viewed. We do not seek to identify you from this data unless it is necessary for security or legal reasons.

Any other information you choose to provide voluntarily where it is relevant to the provision of our services, such as special handling requirements or preferred contact methods.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis for doing so under the GDPR. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases may include:

Contractual necessity: We process data that is necessary to enter into a contract with you or to perform a contract for removal or related services. This includes processing required to provide quotes, plan your move, deliver services and manage payments.

Legal obligation: We process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax and accounting rules and obligations to respond to lawful requests from competent authorities.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided those interests are not overridden by your fundamental rights and freedoms. These interests may include managing and improving our services, maintaining security, preventing fraud and defending legal claims.

Consent: In specific situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing or for optional communications. When we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

How We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our services, including issuing quotes, scheduling and carrying out removals, managing storage or related services, and handling billing and payments.

To communicate with you, including responding to enquiries, sending service updates, confirming bookings, and providing information related to your contract or requested services.

To manage our business operations, including internal administration, record keeping, quality assurance, staff training and service improvement.

To meet our legal and regulatory responsibilities, including tax, accounting and reporting obligations, and to cooperate with lawful requests from public authorities where required.

To protect our rights, property and safety, including the prevention and detection of fraud, misuse or security incidents, and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the purposes set out above and always in compliance with data protection law.

We may share your data with service providers acting as data processors who provide services on our behalf, such as IT support providers, hosting providers, secure payment service providers, customer management systems and professional advisers. These processors are only permitted to process your data in accordance with our instructions and are required to implement appropriate security measures.

Where necessary, we may share personal data with insurers, legal advisers, accountants or other professional advisers in connection with insurance claims, legal proceedings, audits or regulatory requirements.

We may also share data with public authorities, regulators or law enforcement agencies where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

International Transfers

Where we transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with applicable law. These safeguards may include the use of standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognized under the GDPR.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.

Customer and contract records are generally retained for the duration of the contractual relationship and for a period thereafter, in line with limitation periods for legal claims and applicable accounting and tax laws.

Quotes and enquiries that do not result in a contract may be retained for a limited period to manage follow-up communication and internal analysis, after which the data is deleted or anonymised.

Where we rely on consent for specific processing, we retain the data only for as long as the consent remains valid and is not withdrawn, subject to any additional legal retention requirements.

When we no longer need personal data, we delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, encryption where appropriate, staff training and regular review of our security practices.

Although we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we are committed to acting promptly and transparently in the event of any suspected data breach.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under the GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Portugal Removals customers within our service area and may be subject to certain conditions and legal limitations. Your rights include:

Right of access: You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, to receive a copy of that data and information about how we use it.

Right to rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal data and to have incomplete data completed.

Right to erasure: In some circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where the data is no longer necessary 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 data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing.

Right to data portability: Where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.

Right to object: You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. You also have the right to object to direct marketing at any time.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent for specific processing activities, you may withdraw your consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, you may contact us using the contact details provided on our website or in your contract documentation. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we ask that you contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection supervisory authority in your country of residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or other factors. When we make material changes, we will take appropriate steps to inform you, which may include notification on our website or other direct communication. The date of the latest version will be indicated in the policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.