Employers play a vital role in achieving an organization’s definite hiring objectives. In some countries, there is also a law known as the “Data Protection Act”, which provides rubrics to protect the personal information of employees and candidates from being mishandled. Recruiters must be aware of all the provisions of the appropriate data protection law. This article contains many essential tips for recruiters.
Content List
Significance of Recruitment Process
Why does Candidate Data Privacy Matter?
How to Protect Candidate Data During Recruitment Process?
Should You Protect Candidate Data During Recruitment Process?
FAQs
- Sensitive information may require the consent of the candidate.
- Before collecting any personal data from candidates, you should disclose how your organization can use and handle the data.
- In some countries, candidates may have the right to request that potential employers disclose specific personal data related to themselves once the employment process is complete.
- A confidential violation is when an unauthorized or accidental disclosure occurs.
- Integrity is violated when unauthorized or accidental alterations to personal data occur.
- Available infringement is when personal data is accessed or destroyed by accident or unauthorized use.
- Negative propaganda surrounding data breaches can affect an organization’s reputation.
- The Code of Conduct applies to most organizations. Even those who do not have it follow at least some moral code. Besides, they will not be able to stay in business. One of these policies states that confidential information must be handled responsibly and used only for commercial purposes.
- Whenever personal data is collected, it must be appropriately tagged and inventory. Your company also needs to provide a tracking method for all data to make it easier to find and protect. All of these must be by recommendations and legal standards.
- Protecting personal details
- Strict security measures for online job applications
- Email encryption
- Avoid asking for irrelevant/sensitive information
- Set difficult password
- Consult an IT professional
- Disclosure of personal information during the reference
- Upgrade your security software
- Delete Record of Removed Employees
- Just gather the necessary information
- How long can I keep candidate data?
- Why is data protection important in recruitment?
- Which of the following are covered by data protection?
- What are the types of staff records?
Latest Update
Information about job candidates is becoming riskier for internet crimes. Iberdrola USA’s online job site was hacked, and the data of 5,100 applicants was made insecure. Although the government is not immune, the Federal Office for Personnel Management fell victim to Internet thieves when background records were leaked from its database.
Matt Cullen, a contributor to Recruiting Trends, says: Unfortunately, the methods and techniques used to manage, protect, and even destroy data are not always as secure as they should be. “
Kulina advises that the legal consequences of data breaches are severe and costly. Frequent infringement of information can lead to a negative reputation of an organization as well as the obligation to conduct in-depth inquiries into the cause of data loss, notifications and protective financial actions, and possible lawsuits by affected individuals.
Significance of Recruitment Process
The primary benefits of an effective recruitment and selection process include a strong pool of applicants, accurate eligibility checks, active strategic alignment with company objectives, reduced turnover, and high morale. A robust collection of planned recruitment efforts of applicants includes identifying the best methods of contacting eligible applicants. Some of the standard recruitment methods are newspapers, company websites, job boards, broadcast media, and career fairs. Investing your time and resources in the most efficient ways creates a more extensive and more qualified set of applicants.
The exact screening selection process focuses on applicants, interviews, tests, and other mechanisms used to evaluate the qualifications and characteristics of the candidates. While job interviews are an ordinary and necessary means of evaluating applicants, the University of Oregon also suggests that work samples are valuable in many employee screening processes. For graphic design jobs, candidates usually present a portfolio of completed projects in school, internship, or previous work experience. These patterns provide evidence of task completion and efficiency, which contributes to accuracy in appointing the best person for a role.
Why does Candidate Data Privacy Matter?
How to Protect Candidate Data During Recruitment Process?
Recruiters should clearly state the purpose of the candidate’s details. They should mention that the failed candidates’ personal information has either been deleted or retained for future consideration (with the candidate’s permission). Misusing the details of successful or unsuccessful candidates is illegal under any circumstances. The company should protect the personal information of each candidate. How an organization handles the details of all its applicants also reveals a great deal about the company’s professionalism.
The company’s website should be protected from hacker attacks and foreign intrusions. All information about the candidates should be processed safely. Also, the submitted biodata should be made available only to the officers directly involved in the recruitment process. Other employees should be barred from viewing candidates’ personal information. It is also against the ethics of recruitment. If this information is leaked, the company’s credibility will be questioned. Be sure to delete or securely store successful and unsuccessful candidates’ data and CVs. ‘
Make sure you use email encryption. This will protect the details of the candidates from being misused by a third party. Email encryption should be used for any job-related correspondence other than recruitment purposes. Encrypt all outgoing emails before sending any recruitment-related content. Encrypted emails are protected and are difficult to access through malicious elements. Sometimes the company’s employees are involved in cybercrime and misuse official information. Thus, it is essential to double-check the encryption of all recruitment-related activities.
Recruiters should design the job application process to be relevant for the correct position. The entire questionnaire should be prepared to keep in view the significant criteria of the job. These details should be stored in a secure folder. The recruiter should not ask for sensitive information such as political leanings and religious and cultural beliefs as they are unrelated to the job. If these questions are considered mandatory for a particular role, the answers should never be made public to save the candidate from potential discrimination.
Don’t set a predictable password. Always use a combination of letters, letters, numbers, and symbols for all logins. This will help keep private information safe. Avoid using people’s names and company names as passwords. In addition, passwords involving upper and lower cases are difficult for hackers to decode, making it difficult to access the personal details of candidates or employees they intend to use for illegal activities. Hackers are experts at breaking simple passwords, so it is always advisable to choose passwords carefully in any forum.
If you are a recruiter who is not tech-savvy, you should consult an IT professional to help with data protection. The IT team can help check the recruiter through all the systems in the company. They can also help detect any illegal activity. Employees should be trusted, but their plans should be inspected to identify any activity that could harm the company or the recruitment process. Various companies have reported cases where company employees are involved in leaking employment-related information to third parties with illegal intent.
Avoid disclosing candidate details to companies when providing references. There is always the possibility of fraud. Companies should not disclose the personal information of current or former employees without their written consent. Innocent employees can sometimes be exploited by misusing confidential information.
You should install the latest antivirus program. Security software should be updated regularly to combat hacker attacks that could misuse the personal details of candidates and employees. Also, make sure that private information is always shared face to face. Avoid spreading personal details via e-mail etc.
Managers should delete records of employees who have left the company. It is against the company’s ethics to keep personal records of terminated employees if they have not committed any fraud with the company. This information is used for legal action against that employee.
To streamline the process, gather the information needed for accurate hiring decisions. Are your questions and data collection points related to the advertised role? Are questions of political, religious, and cultural beliefs mandatory for the job, or can they lead to unnecessary discrimination? Use a high-level security folder or resource to store the information you collect on each applicant.
Should You Protect Candidate Data During Recruitment Process?
Before the candidate submits or agrees to give you their data, you need to inform them about why you require specific information, what you will do with it, how it will be stored, and how the applicant can obtain, correct, or delete it. How to exercise the right to anonymity. Being transparent and cooperative in handling the applicant’s data builds respect and trust for all parties. Data collection can only begin after a mutual agreement between the applicant and the talent professional or company has been reached.
Sensitive personal information of an individual is protected by law, especially under the recent Data Protection Act. This means that companies that use someone’s data without their prior permission or show negligence in using that data are guilty of causing serious harm to the person, as well as fines or lawsuits for misusing the data. Companies must have a comprehensive privacy policy to protect user data when collecting, handling, processing, using, and transferring it.
Make sure you comply with regional and global laws on data or data privacy laws. When recruiting remotely or internationally, it is essential to understand the regional data security requirements and requirements in addition to the international laws applicable to the sensitive data you receive. For example, if you keep the data of people governed by EU law, know and understand the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR). Data ending up in the wrong hands can be harmful. This means that the data owner’s rights have been violated and that the company that aided or abetted the violation could be in serious trouble.
Conclusion
In some countries, there is also a law known as the “Data Protection Act”, which provides rubrics to protect the personal information of employees and candidates from being mishandled. The primary benefits of an effective recruitment and selection process include a strong pool of applicants, accurate eligibility checks, active strategic alignment with company objectives, reduced turnover, and high morale. In some countries, candidates may have the right to request that potential employers disclose specific personal data related to themselves once the employment process is complete. Be sure to delete or securely store successful and unsuccessful candidates’ personal information and CVs. In addition, passwords involving upper and lower cases are complicated for hackers to decode, making it difficult to access the intimate details of candidates or employees they intend to use for illegal activities. Security software should be updated regularly to combat hacker attacks that could misuse the personal information of candidates and employees.
FAQs
You can keep the candidate’s data for a limited period (maximum one month) without informing them. Contact these candidates immediately and delete their data if they tell you. If you change your mind about a candidate and decide not to contact them, you should delete their data immediately.
GDPR affects recruitment by changing how personal data can be collected, stored, and used. It will be more difficult to process many candidates without having a direct relationship with them.
The Data Protection Act 2018 (“Act”) applies to ‘personal data, which is information about the individual. It gives individuals the right to access their data through subject access requests and contains rules that must be followed when processing personal data.
Employee records are created in various formats. Usually, paper files and computerized records may include e-mail, electronic documents, photographs, plans, movies, sound recordings, publications or other text, audio-visual or computerized digital information.
