We are a recruitment business. Handling people's career information carefully is not a compliance exercise for us, it is the job. This page explains what we collect, why, and what you can ask us to do about it.
Who we are
MK Search Ltd is the data controller for the personal data described on this page.
Registered in England and Wales, company number 14109335.
Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration number ZB593113.
27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX, United Kingdom.
Email: info@search-mk.com
UK: +44 (0) 20 3996 6804 · US: +1 347 316 8212
If you are a candidate
What we collect
- Name and contact details
- Your CV, work history, qualifications and professional experience
- Current and expected remuneration, notice period, and any contractual restrictions such as non-competes
- Location and willingness to relocate
- Notes from our conversations, screening calls and interviews
- References, where you have agreed we may take them
- Right-to-work information, where a role reaches that stage
Where we get it
Directly from you, in most cases. We also identify potential candidates from professional and publicly available sources such as LinkedIn, company websites, industry publications and conference materials, and from referrals within the industry. If we approach you having found you that way, we will tell you so when we contact you.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
We process candidate data on the basis of legitimate interests: specifically, operating a recruitment business and matching people to roles. We consider this proportionate because the data is professional rather than sensitive, and because you can object at any time and we will stop.
Where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering a contract, or to comply with a legal obligation such as right-to-work checks, we rely on those bases instead.
Who we share it with
We do not send your CV or details to any client without your specific agreement for that specific role, each time. There is no speculative distribution and no standing permission.
We also use service providers who process data on our behalf. They act on our instructions, under contract, and are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.
| Provider | What they do for us |
|---|---|
| Atlas | Our applicant tracking system and CRM, where candidate records, our notes and interview recordings are held |
| Microsoft | Email, calendars and office software |
| Netlify | Hosting for this website, including standard server logs |
| Website analytics: only if you accept analytics cookies |
If this list changes, we will update this page.
If you are a client or a prospective client
We process business contact details, name, job title, work email, work telephone number and employer, to discuss recruitment services, respond to enquiries, and deliver assignments. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests in operating and marketing a B2B service, or performance of a contract where one is in place.
We may identify prospective clients from public and professional sources. If you would prefer we did not contact you, tell us and we will remove you from our outreach.
If you are a website visitor
If you submit the enquiry form, we receive the name, company, work email and message you provide, and use them to respond.
We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used. Analytics cookies are not set unless you accept them. Our lawful basis for analytics is your consent, which you can give or withdraw at any time: see our cookie notice, or use the "Cookie settings" link in the footer of any page.
International transfers
We operate across the United States and Europe, and a search will frequently involve sharing candidate details with a client in a different country from the one you are in. Where personal data leaves the UK or EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or on your explicit agreement to be put forward for a specific role in that country.
How long we keep it
We keep candidate records for two years from our last meaningful contact with you: a conversation, an application, or your response to an approach. If we haven't spoken in that time, we delete the record.
If we do speak again within those two years, the clock restarts. Records relating to a completed placement are kept for as long as necessary to meet our contractual, tax and legal obligations, which is longer than two years.
You can ask us to delete your data at any time and we will do so, unless we are legally required to retain part of it.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Have inaccurate data corrected
- Ask us to delete your data
- Ask us to restrict how we use it
- Object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests, including our contacting you about roles
- Ask us to transfer your data to another provider
- Withdraw consent, where we relied on it, without affecting anything done beforehand
To exercise any of these, email info@search-mk.com. We will respond within one month.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first, we would rather fix it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, by post at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.
Security
We use access controls, encrypted connections and reputable providers to protect the data we hold. No system is perfectly secure, but we take the handling of career information seriously and will tell you and the ICO promptly if a breach occurs that is likely to affect you.
Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.
Questions about your data?
Email info@search-mk.com and we'll come back to you. If you'd like us to delete what we hold, just say so.
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