Guidance

Government Commercial Organisation Recruitment privacy notice

Published 15 June 2018

This notice sets out how we will use your personal data, and your rights. It is made under Articles 13 and/or 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Your data

We will process the following personal data from applicants:

• your name
• address
• phone number(s)
• email address(s)
• work history
• educational/professional history
• diversity information
• previous recruitment history with the organisation
• salary/package details
• unspent criminal convictions

We will process the following personal data from referees. Referee details will be gathered pre-offer stage from candidates. The data which will be requested and used will be your:

• first name
• surname
• contact number
• email address
• relationship to candidate
• candidates dates of employment

Purpose

The purpose(s) for which we are processing your personal data is for recruitment purposes and for the ongoing assessment, monitoring and improvement of our recruitment process. Your data will be viewed and shared with individuals who have a need, as part of the recruitment process or the governance of that process.

Legal basis of processing

The legal basis for processing your applicant personal data is necessary in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract (pre-employment checks), and that it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party (if you are employed).

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

In this case, we collect applicant diversity data for equality monitoring purposes. The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is processing is of a specific category of personal data and it is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people.

The legal basis for processing applicant data about unspent criminal convictions is that processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of a government department.

The legal basis for collecting the data of referees is consent. Please ensure you have consent to provide referees’ personal data. When we receive this data we will inform referees and provide them with an opportunity to withdraw consent.

If criminal convictions personal data is processed

The processing by us of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures is carried out only under official authority.

Recipients

Your personal data will be shared by us with:

• Civil Service Commissioners in the event that they wish to assess whether a recruitment exercise was fair and on merit
• our IT supplier who provides us with an applicant tracking system
• our IT supplier who provides a platform for candidate data, including assessment and development scores
• as your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage services to us

Retention

Your personal data will be kept by us for 24 months. After that period, data will be anonymised and kept for process improvement activity and historical reporting purposes only.

Where you did not provide your data to us

Your personal data was obtained by us from a job applicant who gave us your details as a referee.

Your rights

For both referees and applicants

You have the right to request information about how your personal data is processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.

You have the right to request a copy of any personal data you have provided, and for this to be provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

If you are a referee, you have the right to withdraw consent to the processing of your personal data at any time.

International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the European Union. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through the use of Model Contract Clauses and membership in the Privacy Shield Scheme.

Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.

Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

Public Enquiries: Online Contact Form

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are: dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk