Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 October 2026

This policy explains how Selective Search Recruitment collects and uses personal information about candidates, clients and anyone else we deal with, and the rights you have. We keep it short and plain. If anything is unclear, email us at info@selectivesearch.co.uk.

1. Who we are

• Selective Search Recruitment is a trading name of Selective Search Recruitment Ltd, company number 5428136, registered office 144 Mackie Avenue, Brighton, BN18SB.
• We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
• ICO registration number: ZA175738.
• Contact: info@selectivesearch.co.uk.

2. Information we collect

About candidates:

• Name, contact details and location.
• Your CV, career history, qualifications, skills and achievements.
• Current and expected remuneration, notice period and what you are looking for in a role.
• Notes, recordings and transcripts of our conversations with you (see section 5).
• References, where you have agreed to us taking them up.

About clients and contacts: name, job title, organisation, contact details and records of our dealings with you.

About website visitors: if you agree through our cookie banner, we collect information about how you use this website through Google Analytics and Apollo. See section 11.

Where it comes from:

• From you directly, for example when you send a CV, email us or speak to us.
• From professional networking sites, principally LinkedIn, where you have made your profile available to recruiters.
• From people who recommend you to us, and from referees.
• From publicly available sources such as company websites and press coverage.

If we collect your details from a source other than you, we will tell you and point you to this policy the first time we contact you, and in any case within one month.

3. How we use it and our lawful basis

• Finding and assessing candidates for roles, and putting you forward to clients: legitimate interests — running an executive search business and helping you find a role that suits you. We only put you forward for a specific role once you have agreed.
• Keeping in touch about future opportunities: legitimate interests. You can ask us to stop at any time.
• Providing our services to clients and managing our business relationships: performance of a contract and legitimate interests.
• Invoicing, accounting and record-keeping: legal obligation.
• Handling any legal claims: legitimate interests.

We have balanced our interests against yours. We only hold information relevant to your career, we keep it secure, and you can object at any time.

4. Sensitive information

• We do not ask about health, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or other special category information.
• If you tell us any of this, we will not use it to assess you and will remove it from our records.
• The exception is where you ask us to take it into account, for example a request for adjustments to an interview process. We will then use it only for that purpose, with your explicit consent.

5. Recording and transcribing calls

We may record interviews and qualification calls and create a written transcript. We only record calls that have been arranged in advance by a meeting invitation or confirmation email that links to this section. We use one of two methods:

• Microsoft Teams: for Teams video calls, we use Teams’ built-in recording and transcription. The recording and transcript are stored in our Microsoft 365 account.
• Apple Voice Memos: for calls, or where Teams recording is not used, we record the audio using Apple Voice Memos on the interviewer’s phone, which also produces a transcript. The recording is stored on that phone and in Apple iCloud.

• Why: to keep an accurate record of what you tell us, to represent you accurately to clients, and so the interviewer can focus on the conversation rather than taking notes.
• Lawful basis: legitimate interests.
• How you’ll know: every invitation or confirmation we send for a call includes a link to this section, so you will know before the call that it may be recorded. When we record in Teams, Teams also displays a notice to everyone on the call when recording starts. We will usually mention it at the start of the call as well.
• Your choice: if you would prefer not to be recorded, reply to the invitation or tell us at any point during the call, and we will not record or will stop recording. It will not affect how we treat you or your application. We will take written notes instead.
• Who has access: only Emily Dixon and Pete Davies. We do not send recordings or full transcripts to clients. We may share a written summary with a client for a specific role, only once you have agreed to be put forward for it.
• Software: transcripts are produced automatically by Microsoft Teams or Apple Voice Memos. [If you also use an AI tool to summarise calls, e.g. Microsoft Copilot, name it here; otherwise delete this bracket.] No decision about you is made by software. Every shortlisting and recommendation decision is made by a person, and we check any transcript or summary against the recording before relying on it.
• How long: recordings made by either method are deleted within 30 days of the call. Transcripts and notes are kept as part of your candidate record (see section 8).

6. Who we share it with

• Clients: your CV and relevant information, only for a specific role and only once you have agreed.
• Service providers who process data for us: Microsoft (email, Teams, call recordings and file storage), Apple (iCloud storage of call recordings made with Voice Memos), LinkedIn (candidate search and messaging), CRM. They may only use it to provide their service to us.
• Website tools, only if you agree through our cookie banner: Google (Google Analytics) and ZenLeads, Inc. trading as Apollo.io (Apollo Website Visitor Tracking). See section 11.
• Professional advisers and authorities: where required by law or to establish or defend legal claims.

We never sell your information.

7. International transfers

We place candidates in the UK, Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. If you are being considered for a role with a client outside the UK, we will share your details with that client only with your agreement. Some of our service providers may also process data outside the UK. Where this happens we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as a UK adequacy decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK-US data bridge.

8. How long we keep it

• Candidate records: [2] years from our last meaningful contact with you, then deleted, unless you ask us to keep in touch or to delete them sooner.
• Call recordings (Teams and Voice Memos): 30 days.
• Placed candidates: [6] years after the placement, for accounting and legal purposes.
• Client and financial records: 6 years, as required for tax and accounting.

9. How we keep it secure

Access is limited to the two people who run the business. Our systems are password-protected with multi-factor authentication, and we use reputable providers with their own security certifications.

10. Your rights

You have the right to:

• see the information we hold about you, free of charge;
• have it corrected if it is wrong;
• have it deleted;
• restrict or object to how we use it, including asking us not to contact you or not to record calls;
• receive a copy in a portable format;
• withdraw consent, where we rely on it.

Email info@selectivesearch.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

11. Cookies and website tracking

When you first visit, our cookie banner asks what you are happy for us to use. Apart from the cookies the site needs to work, nothing below runs unless you agree, and you can change your mind at any time.

Cookies the site needs to work. These keep the site secure and remember your cookie choices. They are always on.

Google Analytics (banner choice: “Balanced” or “Personalized”). Tells us how visitors use the site, for example which pages are visited, how long for, and which buttons are clicked, so we can improve it. Provided by Google, using cookies whose names begin with _ga, kept for up to two years. We do not send Google your name, email address or anything you type into our forms. Google advertising features are switched off.

Apollo Website Visitor Tracking (banner choice: “Personalized” only). Helps us understand which organisations are interested in Selective Search and which pages they look at, so we can follow up with relevant businesses. Provided by ZenLeads, Inc. trading as Apollo.io, a US company. Apollo’s script sets a cookie in your browser and records the pages you visit, when, and your IP address. Apollo uses this to identify the organisation you are likely to be visiting from. We use Apollo to identify organisations only, not individual people. Apollo’s privacy policy explains how Apollo handles the information it receives and how to make a privacy request (privacy@apollo.io).

Legal basis. We only use Google Analytics and Apollo with your consent.

International transfers. Google and Apollo may process this information in the United States. Both take part in the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the “UK-US data bridge”), and Apollo also uses the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.

Your choices. In the banner, choose “Private” (neither Google Analytics nor Apollo), “Balanced” (Google Analytics only) or “Personalized” (Google Analytics and Apollo). If you choose Private or Balanced, Apollo does not load. To change or withdraw your consent later, click the cookie settings button at the bottom of any page. You can also delete cookies through your browser settings. Withdrawing consent stops future tracking; it does not affect what was collected before.

12. Complaints

Please contact us first at info@selectivesearch.co.uk and we will try to put things right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

13. Changes to this policy

We will update this page if anything changes and show the date of the latest version at the top.