FAQ: Indeed’s Approach to Privacy
Please be advised that this FAQ is for your convenience only. It is not an exhaustive explanation or legal advice, and does not supplement or replace the applicable Terms of Service, which constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Indeed. We advise to read applicable terms in full.
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- How does Indeed view privacy?
- How does Indeed process user data?
- How does Indeed share user data with its affiliates?
- What is the GDPR?
- What is Indeed doing to comply with GDPR?
- What is the CCPA and CPRA?
- What is Indeed doing to comply with the CCPA?
- Does Indeed transfer data in any way that may be a “sale” or “share” under the CCPA?
- Does Indeed collect and use any data that is considered “sensitive personal information” under the CCPA and the CPRA?
- What is the LGPD?
- What is Indeed doing to comply with the LGPD?
- How does Indeed manage transfers of personal data from Europe?
- What information does Indeed transfer to third parties?
- What information is shared with third parties when the Indeed App is installed?
- What is the conversion tracker?
- How do individuals make a personal data access request?
- How do individuals make a personal data deletion request?
- How can individuals avail of the other rights provided under GDPR?
- How do I unsubscribe from any marketing messages from Indeed?
- How long does Indeed retain personal data?
- What security measures are adopted by Indeed?
- What is a Not Searchable resume?
- What is a Searchable resume?
- How do I change my resume privacy settings?
- What are resume review services?
- Does Indeed comply with international privacy rules?
- Where is Indeed’s main establishment for GDPR purposes?
- What has Indeed done from a privacy perspective to prepare for Brexit?
How does Indeed view privacy?
Indeed values each of its users’ privacy. We’ve invested significant resources into building a global privacy framework that bakes privacy-by-design into our product development lifecycle and affords all of our users the same rights to access and delete their personal data.
We very much value the trust jobseekers place in us to help them find great jobs, and employers place in us to help them find great candidates. Our Privacy Policy and Privacy Center help us maintain this trust by giving all of our users a comprehensive look into the types of information we collect and how we use and disclose this information to deliver our products and services globally.
How does Indeed process user data?
Indeed’s Privacy Policy (for example section 4, Purposes, Uses and Disclosures of Information,) details the ways in which Indeed processes personal data and the purposes of such processing. This includes but is not limited to using data to improve Indeed products, determine user preferences, help detect fraudulent activity, and for certain marketing purposes.
How does Indeed share user data with its affiliates?
As detailed in our Privacy Policy, Indeed shares certain user data with its affiliates to:
- help the job search and recruitment process by connecting more job seekers with more job listings and employers;
- improve our services to you; and
- facilitate better security for users.
The HR Tech Privacy Center helps to further educate our users on Indeed’s core privacy values and certain data sharing practices between the Indeed-affiliated companies and brands.
What is the GDPR?
On May 25, 2018, the European Union (EU) introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . The GDPR established a comprehensive framework for protecting individual’s personal data by defining individual rights and the obligations for businesses around transparency, security and accountability in all processing of personal data.
What is Indeed doing to comply with GDPR?
The GDPR introduced stronger rights and protections for individuals, and created new obligations for businesses in terms of how they process individuals’ personal data. We are excited about doing what is best for our users, and have introduced changes in accordance with the GDPR and its principles.
Indeed’s Privacy Policy, which is easily accessible by all users, clearly informs users of the personal data collected by Indeed, and the different processing activities that take place.
Indeed also employs applicable privacy principles, and has introduced certain changes to support additional user rights and satisfy all of our obligations. Some examples of those changes are set out below.
- We will continue to increase transparency and communication with our users to provide you with as clear an understanding as possible about how your personal data is processed.
- We will facilitate the rights of individuals introduced by GDPR, including the rights of individuals to access and/or delete their personal data upon request.
- Those rights are available to all of Indeed’s users on a global basis.
- We will remain dedicated to the approach of “privacy by design and default” through the consistent application of the privacy principles in the GDPR, and the adoption of a privacy-friendly approach in how we build and operate our products and services.
What is the CCPA and CPRA?
On January 1, 2020, the California legislature introduced the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) The CCPA is a first-of-its-kind privacy framework in the United States (US), delivering a new standard of transparency for businesses collecting California residents’ personal data. Among other things, the CCPA offers California residents new consumer rights around accessing and deleting their personal data collected by businesses, and redefines how businesses must account for certain transfers of California residents’ personal data. On January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), an amendment to the CCPA which expands consumer rights and the obligations of businesses to recognize those rights. Together, these acts are referred to as “the CCPA.”
What is Indeed doing to comply with the CCPA?
Indeed has taken a number of measures to satisfy this new law, and other laws, by building on Indeed’s existing privacy framework. A few examples include:
- furthering the transparency of Indeed’s comprehensive Privacy Policy with a new summary, concisely listing the types of data that Indeed collects and how it uses and discloses this data;
- launching a new Privacy Center, helping users further understand the relationships between Indeed and its affiliated entities and brands;
- expanding Indeed’s consumer rights request infrastructure with a new request form and toll-free telephone number for submitting requests, and enhanced data mapping; and
- integrating new links to the “Your Privacy Choices” page on Indeed’s Site to reflect the CCPA’s approach to defining and regulating the “sale” and “share” of users’ data and the use of “sensitive personal information.”
Indeed’s Privacy Policy provides more information for California residents.
Does Indeed transfer data in any way that may be a “sale” or “share” under the CCPA?
Please see our explanation here.
Does Indeed collect and use any data that is considered “sensitive personal information” under the CCPA and the CPRA?
Please see our explanation here.
What is the LGPD?
The LGPD (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados, “LGPD”) is a Brazilian privacy law that is designed to regulate the processing of personal information by providing a framework for businesses to follow. The law is applicable to data that is collected or processed within Brazil or the data in question is processed for the purpose of offering goods or services to individuals in Brazil.
What is Indeed doing to comply with the LGPD?
Indeed takes a global approach to protect the privacy of our users and the rights they are afforded by laws such as the LGPD. Indeed and its associated sites provide an accessible way for our users to avail of the rights they are afforded by the LGPD, including the rights to access and delete personal information. Indeed has also taken measures to comply with the other requirements of the LGPD such as appointing a DPO (Data Protection Officer), ensuring proper transparency, and more.
How does Indeed manage transfers of personal data from Europe?
Where appropriate, Indeed Ireland’s transfers of Personal Data of individuals in the EEA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland to jurisdictions outside the EEA, United Kingdom, and Switzerland are performed using lawful transfer mechanisms pursuant to GDPR. For example, transfers are typically based on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses. These agreements also incorporate the protections and requirements provided for under Chapter V (and Article 28, where appropriate) of the GDPR.
What information does Indeed transfer to third parties?
Indeed may use third parties to perform services in connection with our operations, to improve the Site and our services, products, and features, to protect our users and better understand their needs, and to optimize the services and users’ experiences. These service providers may have access to Personal Data in the course of providing these services, which may involve transfers of such Personal Data to other countries. Such transfers are only made for the purposes set forth in sections 4, 5 and 9 of this Privacy Policy, to the extent applicable and necessary. Those companies are also required to treat such Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy, and in accordance with all applicable laws with respect to such transfers and any processing performed by those third parties on such Personal Data.
We do this for a number of reasons, for example: to improve our services to you; to maintain quality and protect users; to facilitate payments (where applicable); to permit user log-in through third party accounts; or to understand and optimize our users’ customer journey.
What information is shared with third parties when the Indeed App is installed?
In order to provide you with certain services and support ad attribution, limited user data may be shared with certain service providers when you install, download or use the Indeed App. This may include your IP address or other unique identifier, and event data related to the installation of the Indeed App.
This may be done for a variety of purposes, including facilitating user log-in through third party accounts. It may also assist Indeed to understand and optimize our users’ complete customer journey by helping us: (i) understand how users arrive to Indeed; (ii) better measure the performance of our ads; and (iii) understand where a user has accessed Indeed through different devices.
When you download or install an Indeed App, you acknowledge and accept that your Personal Data may be transferred to these service providers. You also agree to Indeed’s Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and are informed that you may avail of your rights at any time, as detailed in section 10 of this Privacy Policy, including the right to object to the legitimate interest use of your personal data for marketing purposes.
Examples of the types of technologies that may support this behavior include pixels, javascript snippets, or cookies.
What is the conversion tracker?
Indeed may provide an employer with code for a Conversion Tracker to place on its website that pings the job seeker web beacon and tracks whenever a job seeker has applied to a job on that employer’s website. This Conversion Tracker will attribute an application to Indeed any time the job seeker started their search on Indeed, despite any intervening activity, and a conversion count will be displayed on the employer dashboard. Data may be shared from the employer to Indeed for the purposes of displaying unique applications. The Conversion Tracker is simply a counter that notifies Indeed that a job seeker has applied, and also has the ability to count applications across devices if a job seeker is logged in to the employer’s website.
How do individuals make a personal data access request?
Indeed users are able to access most of their Personal Data held by Indeed on the Site. If you have any queries or complaints we encourage you to contact us here. Alternatively, you may make a formal request to access your Personal Data held by Indeed. This process is detailed in Section 10.4 of our Privacy Policy.
How do individuals make a personal data deletion request?
Indeed users are able to edit and update most of their Personal Data held by Indeed on the Site, and if you have any queries or complaints we encourage you to contact us here. Alternatively, if you do not wish to do this, you may make a formal request to delete your Personal Data held by Indeed. This process is detailed in Section 10.5 of our Privacy Policy.
How can individuals avail of the other rights provided under GDPR?
Indeed users may request to exercise their right to rectify their personal data, or their rights to restrict or object to the processing of their personal data. If you have such a request then we encourage you to contact us here, or as detailed in Section 10.1 and 10.2 of our Privacy Policy.
How do I unsubscribe from any marketing messages from Indeed?
If you wish to opt out of a particular marketing email from Indeed, you may do so by clicking “unsubscribe from this email” (or an equivalent action) where applicable. Please note that this will only opt you out of that particular marketing message.
If you wish to adjust all your job alerts, you can click on “manage my subscriptions” (or an equivalent action) to adjust your subscriptions. You can also access and adjust your subscriptions (for job alerts, recommended jobs, and other notifications) from your account dashboard, or contact Indeed Customer Support to do so.
In addition, you may opt out of all marketing messages or withdraw your consent from any consent-based processing by sending an email to privacy-dept @ indeed.com (remove spaces when sending email). In your message, please detail which activities from which you wish to opt out or withdraw your consent. We will comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable, and in accordance with applicable laws.
Finally, please note that we may still send other messages to you, such as administrative messages.
How long does Indeed retain personal data?
Indeed retains personal data to the extent necessary in relation to the purposes for which the data are collected or processed, which are communicated in our Privacy Policy, or where necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. For example, records detailing a business transaction and/or business relationship are retained as allowed by applicable laws. Where the personal data we store no longer needs to be stored for the reasons outlined above, Indeed deletes such personal data, subject to applicable legal requirements.
What security measures are adopted by Indeed?
Indeed seeks to use reasonable security measures to help protect against unauthorized access, disclosure, and destruction and accidental loss of Personal Data under Indeed’s control, although no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. The practices Indeed follows vary depending on the nature of the data, the context of the processing, and the risks involved, as well as available technology.
With respect to data transfers, Indeed relies on the use of data transfer and processing agreements that employ both the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses and the protections provided for under Chapter V (and Article 28, where appropriate) of the GDPR.
For more information on some of the steps we take and advice on steps you can take to help keep your information safe during your job seeking journey, please visit our Security page.
What is a Not Searchable Profile?
Profiles that are not searchable on the site are only made available to those to whom the Job Seeker applied or shared their resume. If you prefer not to have your Profile available to third parties or do not want Employers to contact you, you can set your Indeed Profile and uploaded resume to “not searchable” or “cannot be found” (“Not Searchable”). This can be done by going to your “Profile” page and changing the settings to “not searchable” or “employers can’t find you on Indeed.”
When you apply to jobs or share your Profile with Employers, your Profile might be copied and published even if it is set to Not Searchable. You can change your Profile privacy settings at any time, but setting your Profile to Not Searchable will not affect your previous applications or stop employers you responded to from contacting or reaching out to you.
When your Profile is set to Searchable, search engines and other third parties can copy it and make it publicly available elsewhere. Indeed does not control these third parties. If your Profile is copied, changing it to Not Searchable on Indeed will not affect those copies. To ensure your Profile is not publicly visible, keep it set to Not Searchable.
What is a Searchable resume?
Searchable Profiles on Indeed can be viewed or made available to anyone accessing our site. This includes Employers that Indeed believes may be interested in your Profile, users of Indeed’s Resume Search Program or Smart Sourcing, or anyone with access to the URL associated with your searchable Profile. We offer you the option to make your Profile searchable on the Site to help you find a job.
When your Profile is searchable on our site, Indeed can share the contents of your Profile , including your name and any other personal data that you may include in it, with anyone accessing the site. This will include additional information in your Indeed Profile about your desired job preferences, such as your desired job schedule and salary, your willingness to relocate, licenses, certifications, skills, and other information you choose to include about your job search. We use this information to help you find a job.
By creating or adding information to your Profile or uploading a file resume on the site, Indeed may share with you Job Ads that match the contents of your Profile. Indeed may also highlight to you items in Your Profile that may match qualifications from the Job Ad, or highlight to you items that appear in the Job Ad and may be missing from Your Profile.
It is your responsibility to review your Profile and resume to ensure that the content appears as you intend, and that it contains the right information or any information you intend to include or update. If you see any inaccuracy in any such material, it is your responsibility to correct such information or to contact Indeed to do so. It may take a few days for updates to your account or your Profile to be reflected.
How do I change my resume privacy settings?
When you create or add information to your Profile on Indeed, it will be set to searchable by default (“Searchable”). If you prefer not to have your Profile available to third parties or do not want Employers to contact you, you can set your Indeed Profile and uploaded resume to “not searchable” or “cannot be found” (“Not Searchable”). This can be done by going to your “Profile” page and changing the settings to “not searchable” or “employers can’t find you on Indeed.” When you adjust your privacy settings from Searchable to Not Searchable , When your Profile is set to Searchable, search engines and other third parties can copy it and make it publicly available elsewhere. Indeed does not control these third parties. If your Profile is copied, changing it to Not Searchable on Indeed will not affect those copies. . Additionally, setting your Profile to Not Searchable will not affect your previous applications or stop employers you responded to from contacting or reaching out to you.
Changes made to your Profile privacy settings may take a few days to complete, during which time a profile set to searchable , for example, may remain visible to employers and other users searching on Indeed.
If you do not want Indeed to make your Indeed Profile available to third parties or if you do not want employers to contact you, set your Profile to private in your privacy settings.
What are resume review services?
We may also offer additional resume review services to help job seekers build and improve their resumes. For example, this can include helping you understand how your resume may be parsed by applicant tracking system software, feedback on ways to build a more effective resume, or a personalized resume review video. In providing these services, Indeed may give you feedback, including questions and comments on the contents of your resume, about your resume or other materials you submit through the services. We provide this feedback directly to you, and may give you the ability to access it within your account. It is not made available to employers.
Does Indeed comply with international privacy rules?
Indeed takes the privacy of its users very seriously, investing significant resources as part of our efforts to protect your personal data. This includes closely monitoring developments in international privacy rules, and endeavoring to adhere to those rules. We very much value the trust that our jobseekers place in us to help them find jobs, and our employers place in us to help them find great candidates. Our Privacy Policy describes how we work to maintain that trust and protect our users’ information.
Where is Indeed’s main establishment for GDPR purposes?
As provided for in Indeed’s Privacy Policy, European personal data of our jobseekers and employers is provided to Indeed Ireland Operations Limited (“Indeed Ireland”). Indeed’s main establishment for the purposes of the GDPR is Ireland and our lead supervisory authority is the Irish Data Protection Commission.
What has Indeed done from a privacy perspective to prepare for Brexit?
Indeed has taken measures to ensure the personal data of its users continues to be protected. For example, Indeed has introduced data transfer and processing agreements where appropriate to protect personal data transfers to the United Kingdom in the event of that jurisdiction departing from the European data protection regime.