Glossary: HR & Recruiting Definitions
The abbreviation GDPR stands for “General Data Protection Regulation” and refers to an EU-wide law on the collection, processing, and storage of personal data for specific purposes.
Since the law came into force, companies have been faced with changed requirements regarding the systems and processes used for recruiting and applicant management, as well as data protection and data security.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018 and has since regulated the treatment of personal data in accordance with EU law.
No. The GDPR does not cover all relevant topics related to data protection and should therefore be applied alongside national laws and regulations.
Which specific laws apply depends on the country in question. For example, a separate law exists in Germany, called the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (or BDSG, meaning Federal Data Protection Act). This act has existed since 1977 but was updated in May 2018 to supplement the GDPR.
On the European Commission’s information portal, personal data is defined as follows:
“Personal data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual.” The GDPR further stipulates that “different pieces of information, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute personal data.”
As stated in Article 4 of the EU GDPR, identification in this context refers to “factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of a natural person”.
The GDPR law only deals with data in relation to natural persons. Based on this definition, the following data are considered personal by the GDPR:
Data relating to legal persons, i.e., companies, societies or associations, are not considered personal and are therefore not covered by this law.
Examples of non-personal data:
First and foremost, data protection in line with the GDPR is so important because if personal data falls into the wrong hands it can cause serious damage. Think of misuse of candidate data, fines for companies in the event of violations, financial damage, and so on).
Furthermore, awareness of the value and need for protection of personal data is steadily growing in society. A company that demonstrates awareness, expertise, and professional handling of data can score points as a considerate employer. This can help boost the employer image and ensure trustful interaction with employees and potential team members alike.
The General Data Protection Regulation consists of a total of 11 chapters with 99 articles covering the collection, storage, and processing of personal data. Recruiters should be particularly familiar with the following articles.
In doing so, they must follow the principle of necessity. This means that only the most necessary data (e.g. first and last name, contact details, qualifications) that is vital for selecting the new team member may be requested.
Inclusion in such a talent pool means longer-term storage of the collected data (beyond the application process) and, therefore, requires the explicit consent of the person concerned. Moreover, the forwarding of personal data within a company to recruiting colleagues or management is only allowed with consent as well.
In principle, there must be a legitimate interest on the part of the person collecting the data, but Article 9 of the GDPR contains an exception. According to this, under certain conditions, certain personal data may be collected without prior consent if the data subject has published this information themselves. However, this only applies to Xing, Indeed, or LinkedIn profiles, but not to private social networks such as Facebook.
This applies regardless of whether the personal data is obtained directly via the person concerned or via third parties (headhunters, social networks, etc.). In addition, the candidate must be informed of their rights and enabled to exercise their rights in a simple manner.
This time is reserved for applicants in case they want to pursue claims for damages. For example, if they have been discriminated against or in any way treated unfairly during the process. Companies must be able to prove they have made a non-discriminatory decision when selecting or rejecting an applicant.
If no action is taken, the data will be deleted after these five months. The applicant should, however, immediately be deleted from the talent pool at any given time upon their request.
If an applicant complains to a competent authority about unlawful processing of their data, recruiters must be able to provide the data protection supervisory authority with evidence of proper data processing on their part.
For instance, taking Germany as an example again, further details about personal data processing are stipulated in Section 26 of the BDSG, titled the Datenverarbeitung für Zwecke des Beschäftigungsverhältnisses (Data Processing for the Purpose of the Employment Relationship).
Even without in-depth knowledge of the GDPR, the following measures can be taken to ensure a compliant application process.
Applicants must be informed about how their personal data will be handled and what their rights are in this respect. For example, for applications via the company’s own career site or through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) a clearly visible reference to the data protection policy can be placed on the page. In case of unsolicited applications or applications via job boards, the relevant documents could be attached to the confirmation of receipt.
If active sourcing is needed, only data that potential candidates have published themselves and thus made available publicly and voluntarily may be collected. Candidate research should therefore only take place via professional networks, like LinkedIn, and never via personal social media.
Personal data may only be collected and processed for a specific purpose. The purpose is to determine the candidate’s qualifications and cultural suitability for employment within a company. Consequently, the questions asked during the interview process should only relate to this and not ask for any unnecessary details and data.
As explained, according to Article 30 of the GDPR you should ensure that all data processing activities are recorded in the directory.
Background checks may be tempting and sometimes very meaningful, but they are extremely questionable from a legal point of view. After all, they constitute data collection beyond the original purpose and therefore violate the principle of necessity. There are some exceptions in this area, but these are rare.
While consent is not required for self-initiated participation in the selection process under the GDPR, explicit consent must be given for inclusion in the talent pool. However, recruiters should only propose inclusion in the talent pool after a rejection.
The principle of free choice applies here. With the application, the candidate has already decided to become part of a company and would therefore no longer have any alternative choices. The situation is different after a rejection.
The storage of personal data according to the GDPR can also be a problematic matter, as there is no official time limit for this. Therefore, it is advisable to check the desired data storage in the talent pool at regular intervals (approximately one year). Alternatively, the data can be automatically deleted after one year but giving the candidate the option to renew or delete it.
The GDPR requires a lot of attention and in-depth knowledge of data protection and the law. So how can companies ensure compliance without this knowledge?
By choosing one of the following options:
According to Article 37 of the GDPR, every organisation must appoint (and publicly announce) a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure legally compliant data processing. With the help of our free GDPR Data Protection Officer job description template, you can make your search easier and find competent and talented professionals faster.
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