Skip to content

Candidate Privacy Notice

Date published: 04 June 2024

Reference: PPC02

 

At PSC Support, we respect your privacy and take great care with personal information we hold about you. This privacy notice sets out how we collect and handle your personal data.  It also explains your rights and how to contact us or the Information Commissioner’s Office, in the event you have any concerns we are unable to address.

 

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact PSC Support.  Their contact details can be found at the end of this notice.

 

WHO WE ARE

PSC Support is the leading UK charity for people living with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare immune-mediated disease of the bile ducts. We support and fund PSC research, provide information and support and advocate for improved care for people with PSC.

 

WHAT PERSONAL DATA DO WE USE

PSC Support only stores the minimum data required for the purpose of assessing your suitability for the role you have applied for or are interested in.

When you apply for a job or inform us you are interested in applying for a vacancy, we ask for:

  • Your name and contact details (address, phone number and email address)
  • The type of work you are looking for
  • Relevant work history and professional qualifications (typically in your CV)
  • Your right to work in the UK

 

If we invite you for an interview, we collect the following information:

  • Details of any specific needs you want to inform   us about, so we can make any reasonable adjustments for your interview
  • Responses you give at an interview, plus any  observations we make through interviews, that are relevant for your application
  • Your current notice period (if applicable)
  • Details about former managers, colleagues or other people you may want us to contact to act as referees

 

We will sometimes collect further information as necessary for specific roles as follows:

  • Results of tasks or tests we set as part of the application process for particular roles.

We’ll also ask for the following data for equal opportunities monitoring separately from the interview process but it is your decision whether to provide it to us:

  • Ethnicity (which is a type of ‘special category’ data)
  • Disability status (which is a type of ‘special category’ data)
  • Age demographic
  • Gender identity (where gender reassignment is disclosed, this is ‘special category’ data)
  • Your age group

We also get information from outside of PSC Support, including:

  • Recruitment and executive search agencies
  • Job boards
  • Your referees to ask for information in relation to the position you have applied for (if you are invited for interview or offered a position at PSC Support)
  • Results from background checking agencies. This will include information about criminal convictions if you have a record, and immigration status, if you are not from the UK.

 

OUR LEGAL BASIS FOR USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

PSC Support adheres to UK data protection law and this means we need to meet certain conditions before we are allowed to use your personal data in the manner described in this Privacy Notice.  To use your personal data, we will rely on one or more of the following legal grounds:

  • Performance of a contract: This is when we need the data to process your application to enter into an employment contract (or other contract) with you.
  • Compliance with a legal obligation: This is when a law or regulation says we must collect the information to decide if we can enter into an employment contract (or other contract) with you.
  • Legitimate Interests: This is when we need to use your data for our legitimate interests, or those of a third party. It means using data in a way that you expect us to, for a reason which is in your and/or our (or a third party’s) interest and which doesn't override your interests, rights and freedoms.
  • Public Interest: This is when we need the information to perform a specific task in the public interest that is set out in law.
  • Vital Interests: Where we may need to use your personal data to protect your life, or the lives of others, and have no way of asking your permission.
  • Consent: We have your consent.

 

In this section we explain which of the above legal grounds we rely on to use your data in a certain way.

 

We need to use your data prior to entering into a contract with you, so we can:

  • Contact you during the hiring process;
  • Consider your suitability for a role you are applying for; and,
  • Gain references and check any relevant information you give us in your CV.

 

We need to use your data to comply with the law, so we can:

  • Make sure you have the right to work within the UK.
  • Run DBS checks (criminal background checks) if you are applying for a role working with people with vulnerable people; and or moderating (or overseeing moderation) of PSC Support’s online communities or you are applying for a senior role.

 

We need to use your data when it’s in our legitimate interest, so we can:

  • Complete our recruitment and promotion processes
  • Keep a copy of your application data if you let us know you want to be considered for other roles

 

We need your consent to use your data, so we may ask:

  • If you want to share details about yourself on a voluntary basis to help us with our equal opportunities monitoring.

How we use your ‘special category’ data:

We may need to process sensitive information about job applicants that data protection laws call ‘special category’ data. This is information that can reveal a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, as well as genetic or biometric data (if used for identification purposes) and data concerning a person’s health, sex life or sexual orientation.

Data protection laws say we need a second lawful basis to process ‘special category’ data in addition to the bases above. The second lawful bases we use are explicit consent, exercising legal rights in the field of employment, reasons of substantial public interest and to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

For equal opportunities monitoring, we collect ethnicity, disability status, age demographic and sometimes health data (for example, if you inform us of gender reassignment) with your explicit consent and for reasons of substantial public interest.  We need to use this information to make sure we give job applicants equal opportunity and treatment regardless of their demographic.  Providing this information is voluntary and won’t affect your application in any way.

We store this data separately to your application.

 

WHO WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH

Companies that help us recruit, and need to process your details:

  • Cloud services provider.

 

References if your application is successful:

  • We contact the referees using the contact details you have given us to learn more about you. We only tell them your name and where we are calling from.

 

Public bodies:

  • We ask the Disclosure and Barring Service to check your criminal record, if this is necessary for the role
  • In some circumstances, we may share your details with other parties. This is to comply with the law or to protect our rights, property or safety.

 

HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA

If your application is unsuccessful, we delete some of your information, for example,  the results of criminal record checks, immediately. If you’re unsuccessful and agree that we can keep your information for other job openings, we keep relevant information  for up to 6-months after we close the hiring process. We need to keep a copy of all applications for at least 6 months in case we face a legal challenge about our decision.

 

DATA TRANSFERS OUTSIDE THE UK

PSC Support does not routinely share candidate’s personal data outside of the UK.  However, if it is necessary to share data in this way, we make sure your data is protected by ensuring the country is listed as having adequate data protection laws according to the European Commission, or is listed as having adequate data protection laws according to the United Kingdom.  For countries that do not have adequate data protection laws, we provide the necessary safeguards by using specific clauses in contracts which are approved by the European Commission which includes an international data transfer addendum approved by the UK Government, or we will use a UK International data transfer agreement (IDTA) approved by UK Government.   In either case an additional transfer risk assessment is also undertaken.

 

YOUR RIGHTS

You have a right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you (make a data subject access request)
  • Ask for a copy of your personal data in a portable (machine-readable) format or request PSC Support to send it to someone else
  • Ensure any inaccurate data is corrected
  • Ask us to delete, block or suppress your data. For legal reasons, we might not always be able to do so. There may be times when we continue to use your data when we say it’s in our ‘legitimate interest’
  • Withdraw any consent you have given us, or object to us processing your data
  • Ask a member of staff to review an automated decision

 

To exercise your rights, contact privacy@pscsupport.org.uk

CONTACTS

For any questions or queries in relation to this privacy notice, please contact a PSC Support at: privacy@pscsupport.org.uk

 

If you are not satisfied, you also have the right to lodge a formal complaint in relation to the collection and processing of your personal data to the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

 

Full details may be accessed on the complaints section of the ICO's website and the contact details for submission of a complaint are as follows:

Addressee: First Contact Team

Address: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF

E-mail: casework@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Helpline: 0303 123 1113