Applicant privacy notice

We will comply with data protection and GDPR legislation and regulation, which means that your data will be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes
• Used in a manner that is relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes
• Accurate and kept up to date
• Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about
• Kept securely

UKSA has appointed Simon Hamilton, Director of Finance and Business Services as the person with responsibility for overseeing data protection compliance within UKSA. Questions about this notice, or requests for further information, should be directed to Simon Hamilton, and he can be contacted at [email protected]

Personal data is any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where an individual cannot be identified (anonymous data).

UKSA collects a range of information about applications at different points during the recruitment process. This includes:

• Your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone numbers
• Details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history
• Whether or not you have a disability for which UKSA would need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process

If an offer of employment is formally made we may also collect, store and use the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal information:

• Information about your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation
• Information about your health, including any medical conditions
• Information about criminal convictions and offences

UKSA may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks to ensure our commitment to safer recruitment practices. UKSA will seek information from third parties only once it has made a job offer to you; we have your express consent and will inform you that it is doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in HR management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

UKSA may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be collected through application forms or CVs; obtained from your passport or other identity documents such as your driving licence; from forms completed by you at the start of, or during, employment [such as new starter forms]; from correspondence with you; or through interviews, meetings or other assessments.  If you are asked to complete a psychometric profile, it will be generated based on your responses to the questionnaire completed online via software provided by the test designers.

In some cases, UKSA may collect personal data about you from third parties, such as CVs from recruitment agencies, references supplied by former employers, [employment background check providers, credit reference agencies and information from criminal records checks permitted by law].

UKSA needs to process data in order to make an assessment of your qualifications, skills and experience related to the job you have applied for.

In some cases, UKSA needs to process data to ensure that it is complying with its legal obligations. For example, it is required to check a successful applicant’s eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

UKSA has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows UKSA to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate’s suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. UKSA may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

UKSA may process special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation or religion or belief, to monitor recruitment statistics with a view to promoting equality of opportunity. We may also collect information about whether or not applicants are disabled so that reasonable adjustments can be made for candidates who have a disability. UKSA processes such information to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

For all appointments, UKSA is obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where UKSA seeks this information, it does so because it is necessary for it to carry out its obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

If your application is unsuccessful, UKSA may keep your personal data on file, for up to 6 months. UKSA will ask for your consent before it keeps your data and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

Your information may be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of HR and interviewers involved in the recruitment process. Our IT consultants may also have access to the data, by virtue of their access to IT systems, but would not access this data other than is necessary for the performance of their roles.

UKSA will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and it makes you an offer of employment. UKSA will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you, employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks.

UKSA will not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

UKSA takes the security of your data seriously. It has internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties. Electronically held data is restricted to HR only on a separate drive within our network. Paper copies are kept either within the HR Office (which is manned or locked when unmanned). Interviewers are only given paper copies, which are handed over and collected for shortlisting, and or on the day of the interview.

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, UKSA may hold your data on file for 6 months after the end of the relevant recruitment process as stated above. At the end of that period or once you withdraw your consent; your data is deleted or destroyed.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice.

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• Access and obtain a copy of your data on request
• Require UKSA to change incorrect or incomplete data
• Require UKSA to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing; and
• Object to the processing of your data where UKSA is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest to continue this processing

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Simon Hamilton, Director of Finance and Business Services, using the email address [email protected]. If you believe that UKSA has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to UKSA during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, UKSA will not be able to process your application properly or at all.

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Recruitment processes are not based on automated decision-making.