In today’s data-driven recruitment world, protecting candidate information isn’t just good practice — it’s the law. Whether you're a solo recruiter or a growing agency with hundreds of employees, your firm is responsible for safeguarding the personal data you collect and store.
The UK GDPR applies to all businesses, regardless of size, if they process personal data — which every recruitment firm does daily.
At RockSec360, we work closely with recruitment companies to help them reduce data protection risk, meet their legal obligations, and demonstrate accountability. Here’s a practical roadmap your agency can follow to work toward full GDPR compliance.
Designate someone to be responsible for GDPR compliance who is often the founder, operations manager, or a Virtual Data Protection Officer (vDPO).
They’ll:
Coordinate data protection activities
Liaise with the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office)
Maintain documentation and respond to data requests
Start by understanding what personal data you collect and where it lives:
CVs, contact info, ID, job history
Stored in Recruitment specialist CRMs e.g. Bullhorn or Vincere, email inboxes, shared folders (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox)
Track:
Why you’re collecting it?
How long you keep it?
Who has access to it?
You’ll need clear written policies to demonstrate compliance. These include:
Privacy Policy
Data Protection Policy
Data Retention Policy
SAR (Subject Access Request) Procedure
Data Breach Response Plan
Record of Processing Activities (ROPA)
Technical controls are critical. You must:
Encrypt staff laptops and phones
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on CRM, email, and cloud apps
Patch and protect devices with antivirus, malware and ransomware software
Back up sensitive data securely
Use DLP (Data Loss Prevention) to monitor for unauthorised downloads or sharing
You must ensure every tool or third party that processes candidate data is GDPR-compliant.
Steps to take:
Review vendors e.g.CRM and cloud storage
Sign Data Processing Agreements (DPAs)
Check their GDPR credentials and audit logs
Your team needs to understand GDPR and how to handle personal data correctly.
Run GDPR & phishing training regularly on an ongoing basis
Train new hires on your data protection policies
Run phishing simulations to test awareness
Don’t keep candidate data forever.
Set a standard retention period e.g. 24 months of inactivity
Configure automatic deletion or archiving in CRM and email
Log deletions for compliance
You must be able to respond to:
Subject Access Requests (SARs)
Requests for correction, deletion, or portability
You have 30 days to respond and must keep a record of all requests.
GDPR compliance is ongoing, not a one-off exercise.
Review your policies at least annually
Conduct internal audits
Monitor security logs e.g., failed logins, sensitive data export attempts
We act as your outsourced cybersecurity and compliance team — tailored for recruiters.
✅ GDPR documentation
✅ Staff training and phishing simulations
✅ Device encryption, patching, and endpoint protection
✅ Secure email and cloud tools
✅ DLP, backups, and breach response
✅ Cyber Essentials certification support
| Phase | Key Actions |
|---|---|
| 1. Assess | Map data, assign GDPR lead, identify risks |
| 2. Protect | Secure devices, enable MFA, implement DLP |
| 3. Document | Create policies, breach response, and ROPA |
| 4. Train | Staff awareness, phishing testing |
| 5. Review | Monitor access, review suppliers, stay current |
Book a free GDPR compliance check-up with RockSec360
Let us show you where your risks lie — and how to fix them.