Candidate Privacy Policy

Candidate Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 1 June 2026

Version: 1

What is the purpose of this document?

Dataseed (Pty) Ltd, doing business as RelyComply (hereafter the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), is the data controller — and, under POPIA, the responsible party — of the personal data you provide during the job application process. We are registered in South Africa (Company No. 2018/629069/07) with our registered office at 146 Campground Road, Newlands, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa. We are committed to protecting your privacy.

This privacy policy explains how we process personal data about job candidates during our recruitment activities, how long we retain your data, and outlines your rights regarding your personal data. When we refer to “Data Protection Legislation”, we mean the South African Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, and any related legislation.

The kind of information we hold about you

When you apply for a position with us, we collect, store, and use various categories of personal information about you, including:

• Application details: information you provide to us in your job application form and/or any pre-screening questions.
• CV/résumé and cover letter: details in your curriculum vitae, résumé, and cover letter (such as your contact information, work experience and education).
• Correspondence: any information you provide in communications with us during recruitment (for example, by email or through our website).
• Interview information: notes and details you provide to us during any interviews.
• Assessment results: scores or results from any tests or assessments you complete as part of the evaluation process.
• Background information: information obtained through background checks and reference checks (where applicable and lawful to collect).
• Evaluation scores: internal scores or evaluations of your personal and professional attributes throughout the interview and assessment stages (used to compare candidates for the position).

How is your personal information collected?

We may collect personal information about candidates from several sources:

• Directly from you: you provide data through your application, CV, cover letter, emails, interviews, and similar interactions.
• Recruitment agencies: if you apply via a recruitment agency, we receive the information that you provided to the agency (such as your CV and application details).
• Online platforms: information from professional networks or job platforms that you use to apply (for example LinkedIn or other job boards, if applicable).
• Our applicant tracking system: applications submitted through our Careers page are received and managed through our applicant tracking system, hireHumain (hirehumain.com), which processes the data on our behalf.

How we will use your personal information

We use the personal information we collect about you for several purposes, and each purpose has a corresponding legal basis under Data Protection Legislation. In particular, we will use your information to:

• Evaluate your application: assess your skills, qualifications and suitability for the role, and communicate with you about the recruitment process. This is necessary to take steps at your request prior to potentially entering into an employment contract with you (and to potentially enter into that contract).
• Perform background checks: carry out background and reference checks where relevant. This is based on our legitimate interest in ensuring candidates meet our standards (to maintain a safe workplace and high-quality services for our clients). In some cases this may also be done to comply with legal obligations that require certain checks.
• Maintain records: keep records related to our hiring process. This is based on our legitimate interest in organising and managing our recruitment and human-resources processes properly.
• Legal compliance: fulfil any other legal or regulatory requirements applicable to our recruitment activities, including verifying your right to work.

We need to process your personal information to decide whether to enter into an employment contract with you. However, submitting an application does not obligate us to hire you, and any hiring decision will be made on a case-by-case assessment of your qualifications and our business needs.

After reviewing your CV/résumé and cover letter, we will determine if you meet the basic requirements for the role and should be shortlisted. If you are shortlisted, we will proceed as follows:

• Interview selection: we will evaluate whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview.
• Interview process: if you are invited and attend an interview, we will use the information you provide during the interview to help decide whether to offer you the position.
• Offer and verification: if we decide to offer you the role, we will verify your right to work (for example, work permit or visa status) and, if required, conduct reference checks or other verifications before finalising your employment.

What happens if you do not provide personal information?

Your participation in the recruitment process is voluntary. However, if you choose not to provide information that is necessary for us to consider your application, we will be unable to process your candidacy. For example, failing to provide requested evidence of your qualifications, work history or required references may mean we cannot evaluate or progress your application.

How we use particularly sensitive personal information

In the course of recruitment, we may collect and process certain special categories of personal data (sensitive information), and POPIA “special personal information”, only when necessary and in accordance with the law. This may include:

• Diversity and inclusion data: information about your race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion if you choose to provide it (processed only with your explicit consent, typically for equal-opportunities monitoring).
• Health information: details regarding your health or medical conditions only if relevant to the recruitment process (for instance, to accommodate any disabilities or health conditions during interviews or assessments, or if a health check is required for the role).
• Criminal records: information about criminal convictions or offences only if relevant to the job and if permitted by law. 

You will not be subject to any hiring decisions based solely on automated decision-making, including profiling; all significant recruitment decisions involve human review. 

Data sharing

We share your personal data only as necessary for recruitment. Applications submitted through our Careers page are received and managed through our applicant tracking system provider, hireHumain (hirehumain.com), which processes the data on our behalf. We may also share your information with recruitment agencies (where they introduce you to us), reference and background-check providers, our IT and email providers, and professional advisers or authorities where required by law.

Where any recipient processes your personal data outside South Africa, the United Kingdom or the European Union, we rely on an appropriate transfer safeguard — UK/EU adequacy, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or a POPIA section 72 basis. 

Data security

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal information from accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. These measures include, for example, access controls to limit which staff can view your data, and secure storage and encryption where appropriate. We require our recruitment service providers to maintain comparable safeguards.

How long will we keep your information?

We will retain your personal information for only as long as necessary for recruitment purposes, or as required by law or our legitimate interests. This means:

• If your application is unsuccessful: we will keep your data for up to 6 month after we have informed you of our hiring decision, to be able to demonstrate that our hiring process was fair and non-discriminatory, after which it is securely deleted or anonymised — unless we have a specific legal reason or legitimate interest to keep it longer (for example, defending a legal claim).
• Talent pool: if we believe you could be a good candidate for future openings, we may seek your consent to retain your personal information for a longer, specified period. This is optional: if you agree, we retain your data for the agreed period; if you decline, we delete it as per the standard schedule.

Your rights regarding your personal information

Subject to certain legal conditions, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data — you can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectification — if any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete; you can request that it be corrected.
• Erasure — you can ask us to delete or remove your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it.
• Object to processing — you can object to our processing where you feel it impacts your fundamental rights and freedoms, and to any processing for direct-marketing purposes.
• Restrict processing — you can ask us to suspend the processing of your personal information, for example while you contest its accuracy or our reason for processing it.
• Data portability — you can request the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

Where we rely on your consent (for example, to keep your details in our talent pool), you may withdraw it at any time. Under POPIA you also have the right to be notified of the collection of your information. To exercise any of these rights, please email privacy@relycomply.com We will respond as required by law; some rights are subject to legal exceptions, and we will explain if any applies.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. In South Africa this is the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za); in the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk); and in the EU/EEA, your local data protection authority.