Your privacy: ODI recruitment process

We collect data about you when you submit job applications as part of our recruitment process. We do this so that we can learn more about you as an applicant in order to help us run a fair process. We do not share this information with third parties.

You have rights over what is done with data that is about you. You can contact us at [email protected] if you want to get a copy of that data. You can also ask us to update it, delete it or stop using it.

What data do we collect and why?

When you apply for a job at the ODI you provide us with some personal information during the recruitment process. This includes information that you include in covering letters and application forms, share in interviews and include on your CV or other documentation that is shared with us.

This information includes:

  • your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number
  • details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history
  • information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements
  • whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK
  • equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, and religion or belief
  • interview notes and assessment submissions

We sometimes use recruitment agencies to support our hiring process. These agencies may provide this information to us on your behalf.

We also use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) called hireful to process applications. To read more about how hireful protect your data, please visit the hireful website.

We may also collect personal information about you from third parties, for example when requesting references from former employers. We only request this information once a job offer has been made and will inform you when we are doing so.

If you use the ODI website when reading job adverts and other information, then you may wish to review our website privacy policy.

What if you do not provide personal data?

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

If your application is successful, it will be a condition of any job offer that you provide evidence of your right to work in the UK and satisfactory references.

You are under no obligation to provide information for equal opportunities monitoring purposes and there are no consequences for your application if you choose not to provide such information.

How long do we store data for?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, then we will store the data for one year following the end of the process. At the end of that period the data will be deleted. You can ask us to remove this information sooner by emailing [email protected].

If your application for employment is successful, then any personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and held for your period of employment. We will provide you with a new privacy notice describing what data we hold about you as an employee, as part of your offer of employment.

How do we use this data?

We use the data to:

  • process your application for employment to help us manage the recruitment process and assess your suitability for employment
  • make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability
  • comply with our legal obligations to confirm you are eligible to work in the UK
  • process your data in order to enter into a contract, following acceptance of a job offer
  • carry out equal opportunities monitoring, as permitted by the Data Protection Act 2018

The ODI has a legitimate interest in processing personal data as part of the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process.

We do not use the data for any automated decision making. We will not use the data for any purpose other than processing your application.

How do we share this data?

We use services like Google Docs to manage and store documentation as part of our standard business processes.

We have made sure the third parties who are not in the EU protect the data to the same extent as companies in the EU.

We will not share your data with third parties, unless your application is successful. We may then share your data with former employers to obtain references and carry out necessary background checks as required. We will inform you of this, before any checks are carried out.

We may also need to share this data with the authorities if they ask us to do so.

What rights and control do you have?

Because we operate in the UK, you have rights over the data about that we collect. You can:

  • ask for a copy of data we have collected about you
  • ask us to update that data
  • ask us to delete it
  • ask us to stop using it

If you ask for a copy of data we have about you, we have to provide it to you free of charge. You can ask us to send it directly to a third party. We have to provide it in a commonly-used machine-readable format.

To do these things, you can contact [email protected].

Please tell us if you have concerns about how we collect, use or share data about you. You can also raise your concerns with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

When might this policy change?

We created this recruitment specific privacy policy on 28th May 2020. If we revise this policy during a recruitment process, then we will inform you of the changes.

At present we don’t have any specific plans to revise the policy.

Who can I talk to about this policy?

Please send any questions about this privacy policy to [email protected].

The data controller for this policy is Open Data Institute of 4th Floor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.