INSIGHTFUL RECRUITMENT | PRIVACY POLICY
Candidates, clients, website visitors and business contacts
Effective date: 6 August 2026
Version: 1.0
Data controller: Insightful Recruitment Ltd
Insightful Recruitment Ltd ("Insightful Recruitment", "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting personal information and handling it fairly, lawfully and transparently. This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain and protect personal information when providing specialist recruitment services in the UK.
This policy applies to candidates, prospective candidates, clients, prospective clients, referees, website visitors, suppliers and other business contacts. It should be read alongside any short privacy notice or consent statement provided when a call or video interview is recorded.
1. Who we are and how to contact us
Insightful Recruitment Ltd is the data controller for the personal information covered by this policy. We specialise in recruitment for the Optical and Audiology sectors.
Website: https://insightful-recruitment.com
Email: info@insightful-recruitment.com
Telephone: 07537 158 178
Please use the contact details above for privacy questions or to exercise your data protection rights.
2. Personal information we collect
Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect:
identity and contact details, including name, address, email address and telephone number;
CV, employment history, education, qualifications, professional registrations, skills and experience;
job preferences, location, working pattern, salary expectations, availability and right-to-work information;
application information, interview answers, assessment notes, references, client feedback and communications;
audio recordings of telephone or online calls and related transcripts or summaries;
video and audio recordings of candidate interviews, where the candidate has chosen to participate;
client and business information, including job briefs, hiring requirements, contractual records and correspondence;
website and technical information, such as IP address, device/browser information, cookie choices and website interactions; and
marketing preferences and records of whether communications were opened, clicked or answered.
3. Special category and criminal offence information
We may occasionally process more sensitive information, for example health or disability information required to arrange reasonable adjustments, equality-monitoring information, or information that is incidentally visible or discussed during an interview. We only process this information where necessary and where an additional legal condition applies, such as explicit consent, employment-law obligations or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
We only process criminal offence information where it is relevant, lawful and necessary for a role, and with appropriate safeguards. We do not use interview recordings for facial recognition, biometric identification or automated emotion analysis.
4. How we obtain personal information
We may obtain information:
directly from you, including through our website, email, telephone calls, applications and interviews;
from job boards, professional networking sites and other sources where you have made career information available;
from referees, former employers, professional bodies, clients or people who refer you to us;
from publicly available sources, including company websites and professional profiles; and
from recruitment, communications, video-conferencing, website, analytics and customer-management systems used to provide our services.
Where we obtain your information from another source, we will provide privacy information within the period required by law, unless an exemption applies.
5. How and why we use personal information
We use personal information for the purposes below. The lawful basis depends on the activity and may include steps taken at your request before entering a contract, performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, our legitimate interests or your consent.
Purpose
What this includes
Main lawful basis
Recruitment services
Registering candidates; assessing suitability; matching people to roles; arranging interviews; obtaining feedback; supporting offers and placements.
Contract steps and legitimate interests
Candidate introductions
Sharing an agreed CV, profile, interview information or video with a relevant client or prospective employer.
Legitimate interests and, for optional video, consent
Client services
Taking job briefs; identifying candidates; managing terms, placements, invoicing and client relationships.
Contract and legitimate interests
Recorded calls
Accurate note-taking, service quality, training, dispute resolution, safeguarding and evidence of instructions or agreements.
Legitimate interests; consent where required
Compliance
Right-to-work and qualification checks; accounting; fraud prevention; responding to legal or regulatory requests.
Legal obligation and legitimate interests
Marketing
Relevant vacancy, candidate and service updates, subject to your marketing choices and applicable electronic-marketing rules.
Consent or legitimate interests
Website and security
Operating, protecting and improving our website and systems; analytics where permitted by your cookie choice.
Legitimate interests or consent
6. Recording telephone and online calls
Some telephone and online calls may be recorded. Where recording is active, we will tell participants at or before the start of the call. Recordings may capture voices, names, contact details, recruitment requirements, career information and anything else discussed during the call.
We use call recordings only where reasonably necessary for accurate records, staff training and quality assurance, resolving queries or disputes, protecting our business and users, and demonstrating instructions or agreements. Access is limited to authorised people and relevant service providers.
If you do not want a call to be recorded, tell us at the start. Where reasonably possible, we will stop recording or offer an alternative method of communication. Choosing not to be recorded will not disadvantage a candidate in a recruitment process.
7. Candidate video interviews
Candidate video interviews are optional. Before recording begins, we will explain that the interview will be recorded, the purpose of the recording, who may receive it and how long it will be kept. We will obtain the candidate's express agreement before recording.
A recorded candidate video may include the candidate's image, voice, answers, career history, skills, experience, preferences and other information volunteered during the interview. We use it to present the candidate's experience and personality more fully than a CV alone.
We will not send a recorded candidate video to a client or prospective employer without the candidate's express permission for the relevant opportunity. Clients receiving a video must use it only to assess the candidate for the agreed recruitment purpose, keep it secure, restrict access and delete it when it is no longer required.
A candidate may decline a video interview and continue through the recruitment process using another format. Consent may be withdrawn at any time before sharing. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal or require a recipient to reverse a decision already made, but we will take reasonable steps to prevent further use and request deletion where appropriate.
8. Who we share personal information with
Where necessary and lawful, we may share personal information with:
clients and prospective employers considering a candidate for an agreed opportunity;
technology and service providers supporting our recruitment database, telephony, call recording, video interviewing, email, website, analytics, storage, security and administration;
referees, screening providers, professional bodies or other organisations involved in checking information, where appropriate;
accountants, insurers, legal advisers, auditors and other professional advisers;
regulators, courts, law-enforcement agencies or public authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law; and
a prospective buyer, investor or successor if our business is reorganised, sold or transferred, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection safeguards.
We do not sell personal information. We require service providers acting on our behalf to use personal information only for agreed purposes and to protect it appropriately.
9. International transfers
Some service providers or recipients may process personal information outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we use a lawful transfer mechanism and appropriate safeguards, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses, together with supplementary protections where required. You may contact us for further information about the safeguards relevant to your information.
10. How long we keep personal information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting and dispute-resolution requirements. Our usual retention periods are:
candidate profiles, CVs, interview notes and recruitment communications: up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact or recruitment activity, unless the candidate asks us to retain the information for longer or a legal reason requires otherwise;
candidate video interview recordings: up to six months from recording, or sooner if the recruitment purpose ends, consent is withdrawn before sharing or the recording is no longer needed;
call recordings: up to 12 months from the call, unless a recording is required for an active complaint, dispute, legal claim or regulatory matter;
client contracts, placement and financial records: generally six years after the end of the relevant relationship or transaction;
marketing information: until consent is withdrawn, an objection is made or the information is no longer current or required; and
website analytics and cookie data: for the period stated in our cookie settings or by the relevant provider.
When information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it. We may keep a minimal suppression record to ensure that a marketing objection or deletion request continues to be respected.
11. Direct marketing
We may contact candidates and business contacts with relevant vacancies, candidate availability, recruitment services or sector updates where permitted by law. You can unsubscribe or object at any time by using an unsubscribe link or contacting us. We will not use personal information for direct marketing after receiving an objection, although we may retain a minimal suppression record.
12. Cookies and website information
Our website may use essential cookies and, where you choose, analytics or similar technologies. Essential cookies support core website operation. Non-essential cookies are used only in accordance with your cookie choices. You can change browser settings or use the website cookie controls, although blocking essential cookies may affect website functionality.
13. Security
We use appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to protect personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, misuse, alteration, disclosure or access. Measures include access controls, authentication, secure systems, staff confidentiality, supplier checks, backups and procedures for handling security incidents. No online system can be guaranteed completely secure, but we review safeguards in light of the nature and risk of the information processed.
14. Your data protection rights
Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, you may have the right to:
be informed about how your personal information is used;
request access to personal information we hold about you;
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
ask us to erase information in certain circumstances;
ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
object to processing based on legitimate interests and object absolutely to direct marketing;
receive certain information in a portable format;
withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent; and
not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects, subject to legal exceptions.
We do not currently make recruitment decisions based solely on automated processing. To exercise a right, contact info@insightful-recruitment.com. We may need to verify your identity. We normally respond within one month, although the law allows extensions in some circumstances.
15. Complaints
Please contact us first if you have a concern so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator:
Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
16. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes to our services, systems or legal obligations. The latest version will be published on our website with its effective date. Where a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of affected people.
Operational notices
Suggested call-recording notice
“Before we continue, please be aware that this call may be recorded for accurate note-taking, training, quality assurance and to confirm instructions. If you would prefer not to be recorded, please tell me now and, where possible, I will stop the recording or arrange another way to communicate.”
Suggested video-interview consent
“I understand that my candidate interview will be recorded in video and audio format. I agree that Insightful Recruitment may use the recording to assess and present my experience for recruitment purposes. I understand that it will not be sent to a client without my express permission for the relevant opportunity, that participation is optional, and that I may withdraw my consent before sharing by contacting info@insightful-recruitment.com.”