Privacy Policy

The Search — Privacy Hub (UK)

Version: January 2026

Controller: TheSearch Ltd (“The Search”, “we/us”)

Contact: For any data protection questions or requests, contact operations@thesearch.com. Our internal data protection lead is Penny Daniels, Director

Address: 86-90 Paul St, London EC2A4NE

This notice is organised by audience (candidates, clients and website visitors) so you can find the section that applies to you.

A) Candidates & Prospective Candidates (Recruitment / Executive Search) 

1) What we collect

  • Contact details (name, email, phone, location)
  • CV/work history, LinkedIn/public profile info, education, skills
  • Role preferences (level, location, salary expectations), availability
  • Notes from calls/interviews, feedback, references (where provided)
  • Communications with you (emails, calls, messages)
  • Optional DEI info (only if you choose to share; used for fairness monitoring)

2) Where it comes from

  • You
  • Public sources (e.g., LinkedIn / online profile)
  • Referrals (someone introduces you)
  • Clients (feedback during a process)

3) Why we use it

  • Run searches and assess fit for roles
  • Communicate with you about opportunities and process updates
  • Maintain accurate records of interactions and decisions
  • Improve candidate experience and quality of service
  • Comply with legal obligations and defend legal claims

4) Our lawful bases

We rely on:

  • Legitimate interests (running an executive search business and maintaining a professional network)
  • Steps before contract / contract (where you ask us to put you forward, or we take steps connected to a role)
  • Legal obligation (where relevant)
  • Consent (used sparingly: optional DEI data; certain marketing where required)

5) Who we share data with

  • Clients: where relevant to a search process (candidate information shared for hiring decisions)
  • Service providers we use to run our business (see “Vendors we use” below)
  • Professional advisers (legal/accounting) where required
  • Authorities if required by law or to protect legal rights

We do not sell personal data.

6) Systems we use (key)

  • Bullhorn (CRM/ATS)
  • Google Workspace (email, calendar, files)
  • Slack (internal comms)

7) International transfers

Some suppliers may process data outside the UK. Where this is a restricted transfer, we use appropriate safeguards (e.g., UK IDTA / SCCs + UK Addendum) and contractual/security controls.

8) Retention (candidates)

We keep candidate data only as long as needed for recruitment and relationship management. As a rule of thumb:

  • If we haven’t had meaningful contact with you for 36 month period, we will review whether to retain your data.
  • If you ask for deletion/suppression, we may keep a minimal suppression record to avoid re-adding you unintentionally.

Ask for our retention schedule: operations@thesearch.com

9) Your rights

You can request access, correction, deletion (where applicable), restriction, objection (including to direct marketing) and portability in certain cases.

Contact: operations@thesearch.com

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe we have not handled your personal data appropriately. The ICO can be contacted through https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by calling 0303 123 1113.

B) Clients & Client Contacts

1) What we collect

  • Contact details, role/title, company details
  • Role briefs, hiring plans, interview feedback, process notes
  • Contract/fee and invoicing information
  • Communications and meeting notes

2) Why we use it

  • Deliver recruitment/search services
  • Manage the client relationship
  • Run searches, scheduling, feedback loops and process reporting
  • Finance/admin (billing, payments) and legal compliance

3) Lawful bases

  • Legitimate interests (running the business and providing search services)
  • Contract / steps before contract
  • Legal obligation (finance, regulatory)

4) Sharing

  • Service providers (below)
  • Professional advisers, authorities where required
  • Potential buyer/seller in the event of a business sale (proportionate due diligence)

5) Retention (clients)

We retain client contact and engagement records for as long as the relationship is active and for a period of 6 years afterwards for legal/finance reasons.

C) Employees (Internal)

If you are an employee, you’ll receive our Employee Privacy Notice separately as part of onboarding.

D) Website Visitors (No tracking ads)

1) What we collect

  • If you contact us via a form/email: your name, email, message content
  • Basic technical data required to serve the site securely (e.g., IP logs for security)

2) Cookies

  • We use essential cookies only (where required for the site to function).
  • If we add analytics or marketing cookies in future, we will update this notice and (where required) implement a consent mechanism.

3) Links to other sites

If we link to third-party sites, they have their own privacy policies.

E) Security

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal data, including access controls and secure systems.

F) Your choices and rights (applies to everyone)

  • Ask us what we hold about you
  • Ask us to correct inaccurate data
  • Ask us to delete data (where applicable)
  • Object to certain processing (including direct marketing)
  • Ask us to restrict processing in certain cases

Contact: operations@thesearch.com

G) Changes

We may update this policy. The latest version was updated on 29.01.26.

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