Removals Germany Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Removals Germany collects, uses, stores and protects personal data of all customers within our service area in Germany. It also sets out your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation and applicable German data protection laws. This policy applies to all interactions you have with Removals Germany as a customer or prospective customer, including when you contact us, request a quote, enter into a contract for removal services, or otherwise use our services.

1. Data Controller

The data controller is Removals Germany. Removals Germany determines the purposes and means of processing your personal data in connection with our moving and related services. Where we use external service providers to process data on our behalf, these providers act as processors under our instructions and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

2. Categories of Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you use our services. The main categories of data we may collect are:

Contact details, such as your full name, postal address, moving addresses (origin and destination), and, where provided by you, other contact details.

Contract and service data, such as details of your move, inventory or volume information, packing requirements, access information for properties, dates and times of moves, payment status, and correspondence related to your booking.

Billing and payment data, such as invoice details, payment method, amounts, and payment history. Specific account numbers or card data, where processed, are handled via secure payment processors and are not stored by us longer than necessary for the transaction and legal retention obligations.

Communication data, such as information you provide when you contact us by phone, by electronic means, or in writing, request a quote, make a complaint, or provide feedback. This includes the content of your messages and our responses.

Technical and usage data, such as basic information about your interactions with our online content, including date and time of access and general device or browser information, where this is automatically transmitted. We do not seek to identify you from this data unless required for security or legal reasons.

3. Purposes and Lawful Bases of Processing

We process your personal data only when there is a lawful basis under the GDPR. Depending on the context, we may rely on the following legal bases:

Performance of a contract or steps prior to entering into a contract. This applies when we process your data to provide quotes, plan and perform your move, manage bookings, handle payments, and provide customer service. Without this data we cannot fulfil our contractual obligations.

Compliance with legal obligations. We process certain data to comply with accounting, tax, insurance, and other statutory requirements. This includes storing invoices and contract-related documents for the legally required periods.

Legitimate interests. We may process data based on our legitimate interest in improving and managing our business, including customer relationship management, ensuring the security of our operations, preventing misuse, and defending legal claims. When we rely on legitimate interests, we carefully balance these interests against your fundamental rights and freedoms.

Consent. In some specific cases, we may rely on your explicit consent, for example if you ask us to keep your details on file for future moves or specific requests beyond what is necessary for the contract. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future.

4. Data Retention

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

Contract and service data are retained for the duration of our contractual relationship with you and thereafter for the periods required by commercial and tax law. In Germany, this typically means retention for up to ten years after the end of the calendar year in which the contract was fulfilled.

Communication data and inquiry data that do not result in a contract are generally stored for as long as necessary to respond to your inquiry and for a limited period afterwards for documentation and verification purposes, typically up to three years, unless longer retention is required for legal reasons.

Technical and usage data are retained only as long as needed for security, troubleshooting, and analysis, and are then deleted or anonymised.

Where data is processed solely on the basis of your consent, we will delete it if you withdraw that consent, unless another lawful basis for retention applies.

5. Data Processors and Sharing of Personal Data

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary and in accordance with data protection law.

We may share personal data with carefully selected service providers acting as processors, such as removal subcontractors engaged to carry out parts of your move, IT and hosting providers, secure payment processors, providers of customer relationship management systems, and professional advisors such as accountants or legal counsel where necessary.

All processors are bound by contracts obliging them to process your data only on our documented instructions, to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, and to keep it confidential.

We may also disclose personal data to public authorities, courts, or law enforcement agencies where required by law or necessary to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims.

If, in exceptional cases, personal data is transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the use of standard contractual clauses, and that your rights are adequately protected.

6. Security of Your Data

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect your data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include access controls, secure storage, and internal policies on data handling, retention, and deletion.

7. Your Rights Under the GDPR

As a data subject within the service area of Removals Germany, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

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

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

Right to erasure. You may request that we delete your personal data where the legal conditions are met, for example when the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or you have withdrawn consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing. You can request that we restrict the processing of your data under certain conditions, for example while we assess a contested accuracy of data.

Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may request to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object. Where we process data on the basis of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to such processing on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then no longer process your data for those purposes unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Right to withdraw consent. Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time with effect for the future. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.

Right to lodge a complaint. You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data infringes applicable data protection law. You may contact the authority responsible for your place of residence or for the location of Removals Germany.

8. Applicability of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and prospective customers of Removals Germany within our operational area in Germany. By using our services or contacting us, you acknowledge that you have taken note of this policy. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data processing or legal requirements. The current version will apply to your interactions with Removals Germany.