Sam Allen Associates Ltd Privacy Policy

Who are we?

Sam Allen Associates Ltd carries out executive search and services for UK and international clients, appointing Chairmen, Non-Executive Directors and Executives at Board level as well as senior management reporting to the Board. Our breadth of experience enables us to service our clients in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North America. Sam Allen Associates Ltd also provides additional services including Board effectiveness reviews, talent evaluation, succession planning, and referencing, all supported by an industry leading, in-house research team with state-of-the-art data capability.

What does this Policy cover?

We at Sam Allen Associates Ltd take the privacy of those that visit our website very seriously. We have established this Privacy Policy to communicate what information we collect and how that information is used and safeguarded. This policy:

1. sets out the types of personal data that we collect about you.
2. explains how and why we collect and use your personal data.
3. explains how long we keep your personal data for.
4. explains when, why and with who we will share your personal data.
5. sets out the legal basis we have for using your personal data.
6.  explains the effect of refusing to provide the personal data requested.
7. explains the different rights and choices you have when it comes to your personal data.
8. explains how we may contact you and how you can contact us.

What personal data do we collect about you?

We collect the information necessary to be able to find available opportunities and further information needed to assess your eligibility through the different stages of recruitment. This information includes CVs, identification documents, educational records, work history, employment and references and contact information. We may also collect sensitive personal data about you, in the form of remuneration and health information. We only collect sensitive personal data from you and further process this data, where you have given your explicit consent. Sometimes we ask a user to voluntarily provide personally identifiable information (PII). This information generally includes, but is not limited to, name, e-mail address, postal address, and telephone number. We request this information when the user requests one of the following:

1. To register your details.
2. To receive specific information from us.
3. To sign up for a mailing list.
4. To correspond with us.
5. Or any other such activity that we deem necessary.

When a user visits our website, we collect information about the visit that does not identify the user personally. We track information such as the domain from which the user is visiting and the user's browser type. We also collect specific information regarding the user's session on our website. This includes items such as the date and time of the visit and the pages viewed. Sam Allen Associates Ltd does not collect any personally identifiable financial or health-related information except with explicit consent. We do not intentionally collect information from children under the age of 13.

Where do we collect personal data about you from?

The following are the different sources we may collect personal data about you from:

1. Directly from you. This is information you provide while searching for a new opportunity and/or during the different recruitment stages.
2. From an agent/third party acting on your behalf. e.g. Career Strategy Advisors.
3. Through publicly available sources. e.g. LinkedIn
4. By Reference or word of mouth. For example, you may be recommended by a friend, a former employer, a former colleague or even a present employer.
5. How and why we use your personal data?

We use your personal data to match your skills, experience and education with a potential employer. We will initially collect basic information on you such as contact details, job role and experience and then pass this on to the client in search of personnel. If you are chosen by the client and go through to the next stage we will then be collecting more information from you at the interview (or equivalent) stage and onwards in that manner. You may also sign up to or we may offer you to be part of our community where we share business intelligence and news. This format will most likely be in the form of a daily business news bulletin and potentially ‘white papers’. Should you sign up for the bulletin, you will have an easy option of opting out of any future correspondence. Non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) is collected to allow us to analyse how our website is used and to improve the content and service the website provides. Personally identifiable information is collected for analysis to improve the content of the website and the services we provide the user. Sam Allen Associates Ltd owns the collected information and will not sell, trade, or rent the information to others. We may use the information to continue contact with the user. This may include contact such as follow-up calls, e-mail correspondence, or mail correspondence to follow-up on the contact or to provide marketing information about promotions, new services, or important website changes.

How long do we keep your personal data for?

Sam Allen Associates Ltd retains individual data for seven years; its retention policy is in accordance with GDPR regulation and legitimate interest of candidates. This is also the length of time that the executive search industry has adopted.

Who do we share your personal data with?

Your personal data would only be shared with the client who initiates a search for personnel. We will ascertain through this search if you are a good fit for the available position. We may also conduct checks on you to verify the information you have provided and where we do this we may share your information with any referees you have forwarded on to us.

What legal basis do we have for using your information?

For prospective candidates, referees and clients, our processing is necessary for our legitimate interests in that we need the information in order to be able to assess suitability for potential roles, to find potential candidates and to contact clients and referees. If you are shortlisted as a candidate, then this may involve the processing of more detailed personal data including sensitive data such as health information that you or others provide about you. In that case we always ask for your consent before undertaking such processing. For clients, we may also rely on our processing being necessary to create a contract for you, for example in contacting you.

What happens if you do not provide us with the information we request or ask that we stop processing your information?

If you do not provide the personal data necessary, or withdraw your consent for the processing of your personal data, we may not be able to shortlist or match you with available job opportunities.

Do we make automated decisions concerning you?

Sam Allen Associates Ltd does not carry out automated profiling and selection.

Do we use Cookies to collect personal data on you?

"Cookies" are small pieces of information that are placed on a web user's hard drive. We may use cookies to provide you with better service. Cookies are pieces of information that a Web site transfers to your computer's hard disk for record-keeping purposes. Cookies can make the Web more useful by storing information about your preferences for a particular site. The use of cookies is an industry standard, and many major Web sites use them to provide useful features for their customers. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's computer. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can set your browser to refuse cookies. However, you may not be able to take full advantage of the functionality of the Sam Allen Associates Ltd site if you do so.

Do we transfer your data outside the EEA?

To better match your employee profile with current opportunities we may transfer your personal data to clients and partners in countries outside the EEA. These countries’ privacy laws may be different from those in your home country. Where we transfer data to a country which has not been deemed to provide adequate data protection standards, for security we always have approved model clauses in place in our client contracts to protect your personal data.

What rights do you have in relation to the data we hold on you?

As a result of the General Data Protection Regulation coming into law on 25 May 2018, you have a number of legal rights when it comes to your personal data. Further information and advice about your rights can be obtained from the data protection regulator in your country.

1. The right to be informed – You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your information and your rights. This is why we’re providing you with the information in this Policy.
2. The right of access –You have the right to obtain access to your information (if we’re processing it), and certain other information (similar to that provided in this Privacy Policy). This is so you’re aware and can check that we’re using your information in accordance with data protection law.
3. The right to rectification – You are entitled to have your information corrected if it’s inaccurate or incomplete.
4. The right to erasure – This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and, in simple terms, enables you to request the deletion or removal of your information where there’s no compelling reason for us to keep using it. This is not a general right to erasure; there are exceptions. 
5. The right to restrict processing – You have rights to ‘block’ or suppress further use of your information. When processing is restricted, we can still store your information, but may not use it further. We keep lists of people who have asked for further use of their information to be ‘blocked’ to make sure the restriction is respected in future.
6. The right to data portability – You have rights to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services. For example, if you decide to switch to a new provider, this enables you to move, copy or transfer your information easily between our IT systems and theirs safely and securely, without affecting its usability.
7. The right to object to processing –You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing for direct marketing (i.e. if you no longer want to be contacted with potential opportunities).
8. The right to lodge a complaint – You have the right to lodge a complaint about the way we handle or process your personal data with your national data protection regulator. 
9. The right to withdraw consent – If you have given your consent to anything we do with your personal data, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (although if you do so, it does not mean that anything we have done with your personal data with your consent up to that point is unlawful). This includes your right to withdraw consent to us using your personal data for marketing purposes. 

Please consider your request responsibly before submitting it. We’ll respond as soon as we can. Generally, this will be within one month from when we receive your request but, if the request is going to take longer to deal with, we’ll come back to you and let you know.

How will we contact you?

We may contact you by phone, email or social media. If you prefer a particular contact means over another please just let us know.

How can you contact us?

If you are unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, or have further questions on the processing of your personal data, contact us at enquiries@samallen.co.uk with the subject “Data Privacy Enquiry”

Based on the information a user has provided, Sam Allen Associates Ltd may send e-mail correspondence to the user. Each correspondence will contain an easy means to opt out of further correspondence.