Metro Fixings — Telephone Call Recording Policy
1. Overview and Purpose
At Metro Fixings, we are committed to delivering high-quality customer service, protecting our staff, and ensuring absolute transactional accuracy. To support these goals, we operate a telephone call recording system that captures both inbound and outbound calls.
This policy outlines how we manage these recordings to ensure we remain transparent, secure, and fully compliant with UK data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2. Why We Record Calls (Lawful Basis)
We only record and process telephone calls when there is a clear, legal justification to do so. Under data protection law, our recording practices rely on the following bases:
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Legitimate Interests: To train our customer service teams, monitor quality control, investigate complaints, and safeguard the welfare of our employees.
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Performance of a Contract: To verify verbal order agreements, clarify customer requirements, confirm delivery details, and establish the exact terms of business transactions.
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Legal Obligation: To comply with regulatory frameworks, prevent fraud, or assist law enforcement when necessary.
3. How Your Data is Used
When a call is recorded, the audio data is handled strictly for business optimization and security purposes. Specifically, recordings are used to:
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Identify staff training needs and improve our daily service delivery.
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Verify details when a dispute or misunderstanding occurs regarding a product order, price quotation, or delivery timeline.
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Ensure our team handles enquiries efficiently and professionally.
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Provide a reliable audit trail for specific operational processes or financial agreements.
4. Payment Security (PCI-DSS Compliance)
Your financial security is our priority. In line with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), we do not record sensitive payment card details.
If you make a payment over the phone using a credit or debit card, the call recording is automatically paused or muted by our system while your payment information is being entered or spoken. It resumes only after the financial transaction process is complete.
5. Storage, Security, and Retention
All call recordings are treated as highly confidential.
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Access Controls: Recordings are stored on secure, encrypted internal servers. Access is strictly restricted to authorized senior management and HR personnel who require it for specific administrative or investigative tasks.
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Retention Period: Call recordings are retained for a standard period of 90 days from the date of the call. After this period, they are automatically and permanently deleted from our systems, unless they are actively required for an ongoing legal dispute or a formal complaint investigation.
6. Your Rights
Because call recordings contain your personal data, you hold specific rights under UK data protection laws. You have the right to:
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Request Access: You can request a copy of a call recording involving yourself by submitting a Subject Access Request (SAR).
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Object to Recording: If you do not wish for your call to be recorded, you may request that the operative turns off the recording device at the start of the conversation, or you can communicate with us via alternative channels, such as email.
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Request Erasure: You can ask us to delete a call recording sooner than the standard retention period if you believe there is no valid reason for us to keep it.
7. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this policy, wish to exercise your data rights, or would like to make a formal request regarding a recorded conversation, please contact our administrative team:
