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The Economist Group (‘TEG’) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Notice explains how The Economist as a ‘data controller’ will process the personal data you provide as part of your application.
We will collect information required for recruitment, such as your name, contact information, employment history and compensation expectations.
We collect this information for the following purposes:
Recruitment, evaluation, pre-employment screening;
To communicate with you about your application;
To keep you informed of various positions available; and
To ask your permission to retain your CV on file for future employment opportunities.
TEG processes this data on the basis that it is necessary to take steps to review your application and other background information before potentially entering into an employment contract with you. Where we undertake any pre-employment screening we do so on the basis of our legal obligations.
You will also be asked to provide us with ethnicity and gender information on a voluntary basis. If you choose to provide this, we will use this data for aggregated monitoring, meaning the data is fully anonymised. It will never be used in any recruitment decision-making. We also ask candidates if they require reasonable accommodations for their interview.
Any offer of employment is subject to the successful completion of background checks. These may include verification of your right to work, previous employment history and educational qualifications. Depending on the role, checks may also extend to criminal records and credit history, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Data will be collected in relation to these checks.
We may use an AI talent filtering tool to match terms from our job descriptions with those in your CVs and job applications. A human will always be involved in decisions to select candidates. We may also use AI anonymisation tools to remove identifiable information from your application to maintain as one way to promote inclusive hiring practices.
During video interviews, we may use Gemini’s AI-powered note-taking feature to assist in documenting the conversation. This tool helps our recruitment team accurately capture key discussion points and provide high-quality, consistent feedback to candidates. The information recorded will be handled in accordance with our data protection and privacy policies.
Retention of data
If you are successful, we will retain your application for the duration of your employment with us. When your employment terminates, we retain your application for six years following that date for legal reasons. If you are unsuccessful, we will retain your application for 12 months unless you agree to our retaining it for longer.
Sharing personal data
We will not share your personal data with third parties unless required by law. Where you apply for a role based in the UK or EU, your data will not be shared outside the UK or EU. If you apply for a role based in another location at one of our international offices, your data will stay in the UK and EU as our systems are hosted there. Global hiring managers within The Economist Group may access candidate data outside the UK/EU, though this will always be through our internal systems.
Your rights
You can contact TEG at any time to exercise your data subject rights, subject to some exceptions:
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
You can request your data be rectified if it is inaccurate;
You can request your data be deleted; or
You can request your data be transferred to another organisation.
If you have a question or concern about the handling of your data, please contact our Data Protection Officer at [email protected] or the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk