Storing job seeker details could breach Act

The Privacy Commissioner says employers and vetting agencies may be breaching the Privacy Act with some practices of collecting and storing information about job applicants.

Commissioner Marie Shroff was responding to questions from NZPA about consents the Tertiary Education Commission seeks from applicants for 24 new positions being advertised as part of its restructuring.

Job-seekers are asked to consent to Resume Check doing background, resume and reference checks, and for "any relevant third party" to provide information to Resume Check about them.

Whether their application for a TEC position succeeds or not they are also asked to agree to Resume Check holding their information indefinitely.

While declining to comment on the conditions imposed by the TEC or Resume Check, Ms Shroff said job applicants had little real choice but to sign the forms vetting agencies ask of them.

But she was concerned by instances where employers or vetting agencies asked applicants to agree to a wide collection of personal information from any source.

"And I am concerned that this information is then being held indefinitely," she said.

"While it may be technically correct that an agency can collect information from any source, if they have gained consent from an applicant, it is not in line with the spirit of the law."

Resume Check says it strictly adheres to Privacy Act obligations and managing director James Sutherland told NZPA that if job candidates asked for information to be destroyed, "we do so".

But the conditions on the TEC job application form, which also apply to Resume Check's contracts with other public and private sector employers, do not say anything about applicants' ability to request information being destroyed. Nor is it mentioned in the privacy policy on Resume Check's website.

- NZPA