Jobs and training

Recruitment Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – reference Z5809563. We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in September 2025.

CYC is committed to ensuring that your information is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we process your information and it applies to our recruitment including apprenticeship services.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at email: information.governance@york.gov.uk or telephone: 01904 555719, or write to:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other CYC privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice and/or CYC policies and procedures.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this privacy notice.

How we collect your information

We get information about you from the following sources:

  • directly from you
  • from third parties acting on your behalf such as family member(s), advocates, etc
  • from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf

We also collect information about you from third parties, such as:

  • references supplied by former employers
  • information from online criminal records checks providers

We'll seek information from third parties only once a conditional job offer to you has been made.

In certain circumstances we may need to approach referees prior to the assessment process, however, you will be notified if this is the case.

We also collect information from our recruitment website which we are the sole owner of.

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What personal data we process and why

We process the following personal data, special category data and possibly criminal offence data:

  • your full name
  • your address
  • contact details, including email address and telephone number
  • information to prove your identity such as passport or driving licence
  • details of your qualifications, professional memberships, skills, experience, and employment history
  • information about your current level of remuneration, including allowances and benefit entitlements.
  • whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK
  • criminal declaration of convictions (for specific roles)
  • whether you're a member of the armed forces community
  • whether you're a care leaver
  • equalities, diversity and inclusion monitoring information, including information about your marital status, nationality, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, and religion or belief
  • your opinions, comments, and feedback on our services if you choose to take part in our surveys

You are under no obligation to provide information for equalities, diversity and inclusion monitoring purposes and there are no consequences for your application if you choose not to provide such information.

If you're successful on being appointed our Employee Privacy Notice details what information is collected and how it's used during your employment.

We will use your information to:

  • manage the recruitment and selection process
  • manage our apprenticeship process
  • progress your application
  • assess your suitability for a role you have applied for
  • decide to whom to offer a job
  • help us to develop and improve our recruitment and selection and apprenticeship processes
  • help us to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary

We may also need to use information from applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

We offer apprenticeships across all our service areas and you can find out more at our Apprenticeships page.

We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you, or individuals such as:

  • statistical analysis
  • statutory returns
  • audit framework
  • see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
  • help design better services
  • inform funding decisions

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making without any human intervention in providing these services.

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Collecting information automatically

Our recruitment website doesn't store or capture information of users with public access but does log the IP address of a visitor. This enables us to determine which pages are being viewed and helps us to improve our services.

Our recruitment website doesn't use cookies. However, where our website links to external resources or websites, these may add their own cookies. These are outside our control.

Cookies can be disabled by changing the settings on your computer browser, but you may need to re-enter information at times.

Please see our cookies page for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data, special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Articles 6, 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

  • Article 6(1)
    • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
    • (b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract the council has with the individual, or because they have asked the council to take specific steps before entering into a contract.
    • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
    • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
    • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for the council’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests. (This cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks.)
  • Article 9(2)
    • (a) Explicit consent
    • (b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

  • Employment Relations Act 1999
  • Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
  • The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
  • The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974)
  • Access to Medical Reports Act 1998
  • The Equalities Act 2010

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.

If your application for employment is successful, information gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment and for a period of time after your employment ceases in line with our retention schedule. When we no longer have a need to keep it, we'll delete or destroy it securely.

You can find details on how long the council keeps records in our Council retention schedule.

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Data sharing

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

  • other CYC services
  • shortlisting and interview panel members
  • anyone else involved in the recruitment and selection or decision-making process
  • other councils, government departments and agencies
  • other organisations such as NHS
  • third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf such as former employers to obtain references for you, and with the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks
  • internal and external auditors

The exception to this is in the case of applications where you will be undertaking some training as part of your employment - for instance, an apprenticeship, where, prior to an offer being made, we may share your name and details of your qualifications with the training provider to enable them to confirm your eligibility for the training.

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision-making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps) etc for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:

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Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data, outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that it is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 555719, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 555719

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