Privacy and Security

Introduction

Reference Hub is an online employment verification platform for prospective employers to obtain employment reference information about potential future employees using a secure online platform, providing a safe, fast, efficient and effective way for an employer to verify an individual’s past employment history.

Reference Hub is strongly committed to privacy issues and this privacy statement details our approach on such matters and outlines how personal information is processed in order to give a prospective employer the ability to satisfy their referencing criteria. This policy may change at any time so we encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement for any changes.

Reference Hub is a trading name of Arbitre Investments Limited, registered in England and Wales under Company No: 10410495 and having its registered office at Tower 42 33rd Floor, Old Broad Street, London, England, EC2N 1HQ.

Roles under the Data Protection Act

Where we process your personal information on behalf of a third party (usually your previous employer(s)), that third party will be a data controller and we will be a data processor acting on their instructions.

Where we collect personally identifiable information from you directly or from other sources  or third parties with whom we do not have any contractual agreement in place, we will be the Data Controller of that personal data for the purposes set out below.

Irrespective of whether we are a data controller or data processor, we will process personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Data collection

The types of personal information we collect includes, but is not limited to, the following: name, address, email address, telephone number, National Insurance number, employment history, salary details and where a previous employer elects to provide it information related to an individual’s performance at work.

We do not seek to collect “sensitive personal data”. However, if you choose to provide us with unsolicited sensitive personal data, you consent to our using the data, subject to applicable law as described in this privacy policy.

The term “sensitive personal data” refers to the various categories of personal data identified by European and other data privacy laws as requiring special treatment, including in some circumstances the need to obtain explicit consent. These categories may include racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious, philosophical or other similar beliefs, membership of a trade union or profession or trade association, physical or mental health, biometric or genetic data, sexual life, or criminal record (including information about suspected criminal activities).

We may collect the personal information stated above from a range of sources including:

• information that is specifically and voluntarily provided by a user of our website.
• from 3^rd party organisations who have entered into a contractual arrangement with Reference Hub to process personal data on their behalf;
• your previous employer(s)
• prospective or future employer(s
• other publicly available sources

Use of data

Personal data may be used for any or all of the following purposes:

• Registration and / or authentication purposes in connection with the use of the site
• Providing employment reference related services including the generating of references for prospective employers
• To administer and manage the site
• Communicate with you about the site and related matters
• Maintain and develop our business systems and infrastructure
• Any other purposes which were stated or were obvious at the time of collection

When a visitor provides personal data to us, we will use it for the purposes for which it was provided to us as stated at the point of collection (or as is obvious from the context of collection).  Examples of the types of use are given above.

We do not collect or compile personally identifying information for dissemination or sale to outside parties for direct marketing purposes.

Sharing of personal data

We may share your information in accordance with a  specific request received from you directly.

Where we act as a data processor on behalf of a data controller we will share your personal information only as specifically instructed by the data controller.  In such cases, before any action is taken, you will receive a communication from Reference Hub informing you of:

• the nature of the request to share your information,
• the identity of the requesting organisation
• the identity of the previous employer from whom the reference is being sought.

The information will only be released once we have received your consent to the information being shared.

We may disclose your personal information to law enforcement, regulatory, or other government agencies or to other third parties as required by, and in accordance with, applicable law or regulation.

Your personal information may also be transferred to third party service providers who process information on our behalf, including providers of information technology, identity management, website hosting and management, data analysis, data back-up, security and storage services

You should be aware that if you authorise the sharing of your personal information (per above) it may be transferred as a completed reference( in PDF format ) to organisations outside the European Economic Area to countries that may not have laws that provide specific protection for personal information.

How long do we hold information for?

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary or as required by law. Usually, where your previous employer provides us with your personal data, we will retain the information in accordance with that employer’s data retention policies. If you have an account with us, we will only keep the data while your account is active or for as long as needed to provide services to you and, as further needed for us to comply with our global legal and contractual obligations.

When it is no longer necessary to hold your personal information, we will securely destroy /delete your information.

Your rights relating to your information

Data protection legislation may allow you to exercise certain rights in relation to your personal data such as right to access the information we hold about you. You may request a ‘Personal Reference Hub’ login to view all data held about you on the system by contacting [email protected] and providing proof of identity. Please note that we may entitle to request a fee for this. .

Inaccuracies

When personally identifiable information is retained, we do not assume responsibility for verifying the ongoing accuracy of the content of personal information. When practically possible, if we are informed that any personal data held by us is no longer accurate, we will make appropriate corrections based on the updated information provided by an authenticated visitor or authorised party. If you believe that data held about you is inaccurate, you should contact your  relevant current or former employer directly and request they amend their records accordingly..

Where is the information held?

The personal information is held in an encrypted database on secure servers in the UK.  This environment is built on highly redundant equipment in secured Racks in TIER 4, ISO27001 accredited UK Secure Data Centres.

Security

Reference Hub has implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personally identifiable data and information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. In particular, we ensure that all appropriate confidentiality obligations and technical and organisational security measures are in place to prevent any unauthorised or unlawful disclosure or processing of such information and data and the accidental loss or destruction of or damage to such information and data. Only authorized users have access to this system via a secure web portal, for the purpose of submitting or retrieving personal data. The information that is submitted is transmitted via a secure link, using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. Access to those servers is strictly limited to authorised staff.

Cookies

We use small text files called ‘cookies’ which are placed on your hard drives to assist in providing a more customised website experience. The use of cookies is now standard operating procedure for most websites. However if you are uncomfortable with the use of cookies, most browsers now permit users to opt-out of receiving them. In that case you will be unable to use this registration process and may find other functionality in the site impaired. After termination of the visit to our site, you can always delete the cookie from your system if you wish.

Contact

If you have any questions about the personal information that Reference Hub holds you should contact [email protected] or your current or former employer, as appropriate