Civil Service Jobs Privacy Notice

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

The data

We will process the following personal data:

When you create an account:

• name
• email address
• your employer (civil servants only)
• your line manager’s email address (optional - for civil servants to verify their employment)

When you create an account to set up and manage vacancies:

• name
• email address
• your employer
• staff number

Civil servants who are priority movers have the option to create a profile and add:

• full contact details, including address
• employer, role, grade and location
• employment history
• diversity and inclusion information

When you view a job advert we may automatically collect:

• your referral source - the website where you saw the job advert
• details of the pages you have viewed - including how long you spend on a page, and which links you select
• information about your computer - such as the web browser used and device type
• your approximate geographic location based on your IP address

When you make an application we may ask for:

• full contact details, including address, and mobile phone number
• eligibility - nationality and immigration status
• employment history
• qualifications, licences and professional memberships
• diversity and inclusion information
• CV and personal statement
• Disability Confident Scheme and reasonable adjustment requirements
• whether or not you are a veteran of Her Majesty's Armed Forces
• job sharing partner's full name

When you are invited to an interview we may ask you to provide:

• evidence of your identity and right to work in the UK - such as your passport, utility bills or other documentation
• a completed non-taxable travel and expenses form for an HR supported costs interview scheme if offered by a participating organisation. This will require bank details, travel details and a copy of any receipts related to interview travel, to allow verification and reimbursement of appropriate travel costs

When you undergo pre-employment checks we may ask for:

• Nationality and right to work information
• contact details for your referees: By providing this information, you are happy for us to contact them, if needed. Any third parties contacted at pre-employment checks stage, would be contacted using the name present on your application form.
• National Insurance number
• date of birth
• public sector pension history
• health declaration
• evidence of time spent outside of the UK
• details of any other employment
• evidence of current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate
• bankruptcy details
• proof of current address, including postcode
• addresses for the last 10 years
• passport details
• driving licence details
• previous names you have been known by
• workplace discipline information
• criminal history individuals

If you consent to complete a Right to Work or digital identity check online using the Civil Service Jobs Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) solution we will ask for biometric data:

• photographs of your face and your passport or passport card

Biometrics are biological measurements or physical characteristics that can be used to identify individuals.

If you are already working for the Civil Service and moving to another government department, we may also ask for:

• two most recent consecutive payslips
• current National Security Vetting clearance
• current employee number

In order to help test the effectiveness and fairness of new questions for our online tests, you may be presented with a few trial questions as part of your online test and/or you may be contacted to complete a separate trial test.

The list above only applies for applications made through the Civil Service Jobs system. Some advertisers may use their own application systems, when their privacy notice will apply.

When you contact us with feedback or an enquiry we will process:

• your email address
• the details of your request

We may invite you to participate in surveys about your application experience. Participation in these surveys is voluntary. Should you choose to answer the surveys, your responses will be linked to your application and account data when we analyse the surveys.

Some surveys may invite you to join our user panel of people who are willing to be contacted about future research opportunities including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Participation on the panel and any related research activities is voluntary.

When you volunteer to participate in user research activities such as surveys, interviews or workshops, we may process:

• Name
• Email address
• Civil Service employer
• Job title
• Disabilities or health conditions
• Ethnicity
• Video recording of your voice and image

Purpose

The purposes for which we are processing your personal data are:

• to manage recruitment for Civil Service organisations and non-departmental public bodies. This includes a job board, online application service, sift tests, interview scheduling, and pre-employment checking service
• to assess your suitability for a role
• to enable the creation of user accounts
• to provide updates on the recruitment process
• for civil servant candidate accounts, to allow users to view and apply for internal and across-government vacancies
• to offer a job alert email service
• to offer a priority mover service to help civil servants find new roles when they are at risk of redundancy
• to provide technical support to candidates and recruiters
• to send your contract of employment to your email address, if the employing department chooses this as an option
• to monitor the effectiveness of recruitment processes - this could include statistical analysis of system usage, or research into the experience of applicants and other system users, or analysing referral sources to see which provide the most diverse applicants
• to improve our understanding of the candidate experience of applying for a job in the Civil Service
• to build a database of users who have volunteered to be contacted about future research opportunities
• to undertake pre-employment checking and onboarding activity before you start in a role in the Civil Service (including health, pension questionnaire, character declaration)
• to complete a 'fit-for-work' disclaimer in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic
• to comply with the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) which consists of:
  • verification of identity
  • verification of nationality and immigration status - including your right to work in the UK and including entitlement to undertake the work in question
  • verification of employment history - through cross-referencing information against the HMRC PAYE system or through references
  • verification of criminal record (unspent convictions) - for HMRC vacancies this check will also include spent convictions
  • additional verification - only applies where additional verification or assurance is required

Legal basis of processing

The legal basis for processing your personal data is:

• Contractual: it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party - an employment contract. This relates to information that we need to recruit and employ you.
• Contractual: it is necessary in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract for employment. This relates to information that we collect as part of the application and selection process.
• Legal obligation: it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation placed on us as the data controller - we are required to report on equality of opportunity; and onboarding processes have specific requirements
• Public task: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. In this case, Civil Service Jobs facilitates recruitment of high-quality candidates to roles across government departments, agencies and other public bodies. It provides recruitment tools and processes that support Civil Service recruitment strategy, and we also monitor the effectiveness of recruitment processes.
• Consent: for the digital right to work checks, personnel checks, work history checks, and participation in user research interviews we rely on your consent.

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.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is:

• it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department; the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment; the exercise of a function of either House of Parliament; or the administration of justice; and an appropriate policy document is in place. Civil Service Jobs facilitates recruitment of high-quality candidates to roles across government departments, agencies and other public bodies. It provides recruitment tools and processes that support Civil Service recruitment strategy.
• it is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising our obligations or rights as the controller, or your obligations or rights as the data subject, under employment law, social security law or the law relating to social protection. External recruitment is required to follow the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. Personal data is processed to ensure that these requirements are met. We are required under the Equality Act 2010 to make appropriate reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability.
• 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 specified (in paragraph 8(2) of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018) in relation to that category with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained; and it is not carried out for the purposes of measures or decisions with respect to a particular data subject; and you have not declined consent; and you have not given notice that you do not wish your data to be processed for these purposes; and the processing is not likely to cause substantial damage or substantial distress to an individual. Diversity and inclusion data is used anonymously: ethnicity, religion, community background (Northern Ireland vacancies only), and sexual orientation.
• it is necessary for archiving purposes, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, and it is in the public interest. Analysis of applications and recruitment outcomes (including online tests), impact on protected groups, timescales for recruitment, and other research may be carried out.
• for the provision of a digital route for carrying out Right to Work checks, the legal basis for providing a digital version of your face and identity documents, is because you explicitly consent.
• for user research activities such as surveys, interviews or workshops, the legal basis is because you explicitly consent.

The processing by us of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures is not carried out under official authority, but is authorised because it meets the following condition:

• it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. This is ensuring that individuals with access to official information and assets will meet the required standards of propriety.

Recipients

Your personal data will be shared by us with:

Account data:

• our technical suppliers and their approved staff
• our technical supplier's hosting provider
• profiles may be shared with departments who have vacancies available for priority movers

Once you have made an application, your information may be shared with:

• the video interviewing platform, if you have been invited to complete a pre-recorded interview
• approved staff managing vacancies (including recruiters and interview panel members)
• Government Recruitment Service (GRS - managing recruitment on behalf of some recruiting departments)
• the recruiting departments or profession
• our technical supplier and their hosting provider
• Peregrine - to undertake recruitment on behalf of GRS during periods of high demand
• Government Resources Insight Database (GRID)
• Customer relationship management system
• Email survey tools
• Providers of individual leadership assessments, psychometric tests and staff engagement exercises
• Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments - to ensure that recruitment processes are correctly followed
• The GOV.UK Notify service for sending email and text messages
• the integration platform provider for the Civil Service

If you meet the required standard but the recruiting department is unable to offer you the job, you may be given the option of being added to a reserve list. Reserve lists may be shared with other Civil Service departments and professions who are recruiting for similar roles.

For senior civil service roles, your data may be held by the Civil Service HR team within the Cabinet Office to provide a list of potential candidates to be considered for similar future roles.

If you undergo pre-employment checks prior to appointment, your data may be shared with:

• Government Recruitment Service
• Customer relationship management system
• Peregrine and Verifile - to undertake recruitment on behalf of GRS during periods of high demand
• our digital identity checks supplier and their supply chain - for identity verification
• Disclosure and Barring Service
• CJSM, the secure mail platform of DBS
• AccessNI criminal record checks
• Disclosure Scotland criminal record checks
• occupational health providers
• APS Group Translation Services
• Civil Service Pensions
• the recruiting department
• the recruiting department’s shared service provider (if a third party supplier is used)
• the UK Security Vetting team, as well as the Security Cluster department for the relevant employer (which will be either HMRC, DWP, Home Office, MoD, or the FCO)

If you request support with your application or for a technical issue:

• approved staff from Cabinet Office
• approved staff from our technical suppliers
• customer relationship management system
• project management tools
• technical suppliers of online tests

If you participate in user research interviews, these are recorded to allow later transcription and analysis. Recordings may be viewed later by relevant Cabinet Office staff who are unable to attend the session at the original time.

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.

When AccessNI is used

As an organisation using AccessNI to help assess the suitability of applicants for positions of trust, the Government Recruitment Service complies fully with AccessNI’s Service Level Agreement regarding the correct handling, use, storage retention and disposal of Disclosure Applications and Disclosure information. We also comply fully with obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and other relevant legislative requirements with regards to the safe handling, storage, retention and disposal of disclosure information.

As we no longer receive a copy certificate from AccessNI, written consent will be obtained from the applicant when requesting and retaining a copy of a disclosure certificate. Disclosure information is kept securely, in lockable, non-portable, storage containers with access strictly controlled and limited to those who are entitled to see it as part of their duties. In accordance with section 124 of the Police Act 1997, disclosure information is only passed to those who are authorised to receive it in the course of their duties. We maintain a record of all those to whom disclosures or disclosure information has been revealed. We recognise it is a criminal offence to pass this information to anyone who is not entitled to receive it. Disclosure information is only used for the specific purpose for which it was requested and for which the applicant’s full consent has been given.

Once a recruitment (or other relevant appointment, regulatory or licensing) decision has been taken, we do not keep disclosure information for any longer than is necessary. We comply with AccessNI’s Service Level Agreement to return the original disclosure certificate to the applicant once a decision, recruitment or otherwise has been made and will be retained no longer than the agreed period.

Once the retention period has elapsed, we will ensure that any disclosure information is immediately destroyed by secure means. While awaiting destruction, disclosure information will not be kept in any unsecured receptacle. We will not keep any photocopy or other image of the disclosure or any copy or representation of the contents of a disclosure or any other relevant non-conviction information supplied by police. However, despite the above, we may keep a record of the date of issue of a disclosure, the name of the subject, the type of disclosure requested, the position for which the disclosure was requested, the AccessNI unique reference number of the disclosure certificate and the details of the recruitment decision.

Retention

Your personal data will be kept by us for the following durations:

Application records and associated files (including CVs, letters, emails, criminal history certificates, comment and feedback) will be deleted 2 years after the application is moved to a completed status.

Completed statuses are where no further action is expected, and include successful appointment, withdrawn, or rejected statuses.

Where you have completed a Right to Work or DBS Basic level digital identity verification check, your personal data will be deleted from the checking provider’s system 7 days after the check, but the results will be retained by Civil Service Jobs as part of your application records as described above.

If you complete a DBS Standard or Enhanced level of digital identity verification check that includes address verification, your personal details will be retained by the checking provider for 6 years. Any results returned to Civil Service Jobs as part of your application records will be retained as described above.

User research recordings, survey responses, and related consent forms will be deleted 2 years after the date of the recording.

Candidate user panel data will be deleted 1 year after being added to the database. However, if you withdraw your consent, your data will be removed immediately.

Candidate accounts - you can, at any time, choose to close your account. This will:

• remove your ability to login to the account
• withdraw any active applications
• delete partially-completed applications which haven’t been submitted
• disable the automatic sending of job alerts

Closed accounts are deleted and cannot be restored, however previously submitted applications will be retained until deletion for the period described above.

Candidate accounts that are active will remain in the system unless the candidate deletes them (or makes a request for deletion). An account will become inactive if the user has not logged in for two years.

Vacancy manager accounts

ATS account holders are required to periodically reconfirm that they still require access, otherwise the account will become inactive.

Inactive accounts will be deleted three years after the last time the user logged in. Active accounts will remain in the system.

Automated decision making

Your personal data will be subject to automated decision making when online psychometric tests are used.

Some vacancies use online psychometric tests in the early stages of recruitment. Three tests are commonly used: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning and the Civil Service Judgement Test.

Decisions are made on who to invite to later stages based on automated scoring and sifting processes. In addition, test scores and other applicant data are regularly captured for statistical and research analysis purposes.

Your score is calculated from the responses you give during the test, and no other information about you is used. We compare your score to those gained by a peer group who previously took the test, to give you a percentile. The vacancy will have a minimum percentile requirement, and if your score is lower than this, you will be rejected and your application will not be considered further.

If your score is higher than this, your original score may be re-used, for a period of six months, should you apply for a different job where the same test is being used.

When undertaking digital (IDVT) Right to Work checks, your image will be automatically assessed as having passed or failed a match against your identity documents. This will then be validated by a living person before the final decision is made.

Your rights

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

• your personal data is available to view in your Application Centre at any time
• you can request a copy of your personal data, in machine-readable format, by emailing support.csjobs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk - this request may take up to four weeks to process.

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

• you can edit your contact details in your Application Centre at any time
• you can also edit contact details on submitted applications
• to request corrections to an application you have submitted, email the contact listed on the advert for that vacancy - however only minor updates are usually considered

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

• you can add additional contact details via your Application Centre at any time
• in most cases, you will be unable to submit an application if mandatory information is missing
• please check your application carefully before submitting it, as your application will be assessed on the information you provide at that point

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

• you can close your account at any time, from your Application Centre - this will:
  • withdraw any submitted applications
  • delete any unsubmitted applications
  • stop job alerts being sent to you
  • delete your account data and remove your ability to log into your account again
• any applications you have made in the past will be kept for audit purposes under our data retention policy

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

• if your data is restricted from processing, you cannot be considered for a job
• if your request relates to an application, email the contact listed on the job advert
• if your request relates to your account, contact support.csjobs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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

• your data is not processed for direct marketing purposes

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

• you can object to processing, although you will then be unable to be considered for a job

You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, where that has been asked of you.

You have the right, in relation to automatic profiling, to obtain human intervention in the outcome, to express your point of view, and to contest the decision reached by automatic profiling.

• you can email the contact listed on the advert for the job you have applied for

International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage services, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the European Economic Area. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through the use of Model Contract Clauses.

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
0303 123 1113
casework@ico.org.uk

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

Contact details

Cabinet Office is the data controller for your account details, user research materials, and for any applications you have not yet submitted.

Cabinet Office and the department you apply to are joint data controllers for your personal data within your submitted applications.

You can contact Civil Service Jobs by email: support.csjobs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

The contact details for Cabinet Office’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) are:

Stephen Jones
DPO
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Updates to this notice

If this privacy notice changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we will share it with other parties.

Last updated: 28 August 2024