This policy sets out the way in which we, Wessex Partners Limited, will collect and use information acquired from information in the public domain and market research about our candidates in a way that is consistent with our responsibilities and your rights under relevant privacy law. Please read it carefully so that you understand how we will use your information.
Why do we collect your personal information?
We are retained by leading organisations to identify and place senior executive talent. We identify executives, like you, who would be of interest to our clients. We take your privacy very seriously and this privacy policy tells you about the personal information we collect, how we handle or process such personal information and who we may share it with.
What information do we collect?
Typically, we collect your name and contact details, details of current and previous employers, and details of your work, skills and experiences, education and qualifications. We may also collect opinions about you from our staff, contacts, clients and your referees.
How is your personal information collected?
We collect personal information about you through your direct relationship and communications with us, e.g., information you provide during telephone calls, emails and meetings; from your publicly accessible profiles on professional networking websites e.g. LinkedIn, and on your current employer’s website; from online resources which mention you e.g. financial news websites, and from personal contacts and from our clients, if you meet with them.
What will we do with your personal information?
We will hold your personal information with a view to placing you to the most suitable position according to your background and experience. We may therefore use your personal information to assess your suitability for positions and to contact you to discuss an opportunity, to pass your details to clients, and we may then use your personal information to set up meetings with our client and further progress the interview and placement processes as appropriate. We will also hold your personal information to keep records of our activities (including our market research activities) and our previous contact with you.
Who will we share your personal information with?
We may share your personal information with client organisations we are working with (we will ask for your authority before your details are formally submitted for a position). Please note that these client organisations will make their own determination as to how they process your personal information and for what purposes, which will be set out in their privacy policies. Since our clients act as data controllers outside of our control, we have no responsibility for their data protection practices.
Other than as described above, we will treat your personal information as private and will not disclose your personal information to third parties without you knowing about it. The exceptions are (a) in relation to legal proceedings or where we are legally required to do so and cannot tell you; and (b) where we use third party data processors who are engaged under contract to handle data on our behalf (for example an IT supplier or database hosting provider). In relation to these data processors, we will make sure that they act only in accordance with our instructions and that adequate safeguards are put in place by them to protect your personal information.
In all cases we always aim to ensure that your personal information is only used by third parties for lawful purposes and in compliance applicable data protection law.
The lawful grounds on which we collect and process your personal information
We process your personal information for the purposes set out above relying on one or more of the following lawful grounds:
- where you have freely provided your specific, informed and unambiguous consent for particular purposes;
- where we agree to provide services to you, in order to take any pre-contract steps at your request and/or to perform our contractual obligations to you;
- where we need to use your personal information for legitimate purposes relevant to us being able to compile market research, to verify your identity and experience, to create and maintain records of our activities and our contact with you, to evaluate your suitability for positions, to contact you and to keep in touch with you regarding opportunities and ongoing applications, and to evaluate and improve our services. We will always seek to pursue these legitimate interests in a way that does not unduly infringe on your other legal rights and freedoms and, in particular, your right of privacy;
- where we need to protect your vital interests or those of someone else (such as in a medical emergency); and/or
- where we need to collect, process or hold your personal information to comply with a legal obligation.
If we process ‘special category’ or ‘sensitive’ data (such as information concerning your health, or religious or political beliefs) we will only do this with your explicit consent; or, to protect your vital interests (or those of someone else) in an emergency; or, where you have already publicised such information; or, where we need to use such sensitive data in connection with a legal claim that we have or may be subject to.
How long do we hold your personal data for?
We regularly review the personal information we process in order to ensure that it is up to date, accurate and not held for longer than necessary for our internal processes or as otherwise required by law.
International transfers
Where necessary, we may transfer your personal information to clients in a territory outside the European Union whose laws are currently not considered to meet the same legal standards of protection for personal information as those in the UK and EU e.g. in order to provide your details to a client or a client contact located in the Untied States.
However, in order to safeguard your personal information, we only conduct such a transfer under a contract or another appropriate mechanism which is authorised under data protection law or with your consent. This is to make sure that your personal information is safeguarded in accordance with the same legal standards that apply to us in the UK.
Our legal obligations regarding your personal information
We collect and process your personal information in accordance with applicable law. This includes, without limitation, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 together with other applicable UK and EU laws that regulate the collection, processing and privacy of your personal information.
Your rights
You have the right to request from us access to your own personal information. This is sometimes known as a ‘subject access request’.
Additionally, you have the right to request from us:
- that any inaccurate information we hold about you is corrected
- that information about you is deleted in certain situations
- that we stop using your personal information for certain purposes
- that your member profile is provided to you in a portable format
- that decisions about you are not made by wholly automated means
Many of the rights listed above are limited to certain defined circumstances and we may not always be able to comply with your request. We will tell you if this is the case.
You also have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for direct marketing purposes. We will inform you if we intend to use your information for this purpose or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for this purpose. You can exercise your right to prevent us using your information in this way by contacting us at info@wessexpartners.com.
If you choose to make a request to us to exercise any of these rights, we will aim to respond to you as soon as we reasonably can but no later than one month. We will not charge a fee for dealing with any reasonable request.
If you are unhappy with how we are using your personal information or if you wish to complain about how we have handled a request, then please contact info@wessexpartners.com and we will try to resolve your concerns.
You also have the right to complain to your local Data Protection Authority and a full list can be found here.
Changes to this privacy policy
From time to time we may change the way we use your personal information and amend this privacy policy. Please check that you have seen the latest version.
If the changes to this privacy policy are significant we may inform you by email.