Privacy notice
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We are committed to respecting your privacy and protecting your personal information (data). This privacy statement explains how we use your personal data for recruitment and tells you about your rights.
In this privacy statement ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘Royal Mail Group’ mean Royal Mail, or whichever company owned by Royal Mail Group Limited you are applying to work for. In this document the ‘site’, ‘website’ and ‘careers website’ all refer to the Royal Mail Group careers website.
The personal data we collect and how we use it
Using the Royal Mail Group careers website:
We may collect and process personal data through our careers website to enhance your experience and personalise content and job recommendations, and to ensure the security and efficiency of our site.
When you start or complete an application for a job or join our Talent Community, we will use personal data as part of our recruitment process and to keep suitable records. The personal data we use will include:
We may obtain or collect information about you from the following sources:
We use some special categories of personal data in our recruitment process. This includes details relating to your health, race or ethnic background, and medical, sex and gender information we may need to make reasonable adjustments to the way we work.
You provide this information voluntarily as part of your job application or during the recruitment process.
Information about criminal offences and convictions
We have a legal duty to keep mail safe and may use information about the criminal convictions and offences of prospective employees to run checks on them, so we meet that legal duty.
In the case prospective workers who will not be our employees, or who are not covered by that legal duty, we have a legitimate interest in running those checks to keep mail safe.
Use of AI and Machine Learning in Recruitment
To enhance our recruitment process, we sometimes use AI and machine learning technologies to match and rank applications based on their qualifications, experience, and other relevant criteria. These technologies help us to efficiently identify the best candidates for our open positions by ranking them, but they do not automatically exclude any applications from the shortlisting process.
We sometimes use online assessments to decide whether candidates are suitable for a job. These assessments involve a series of questions to measure ability and set a minimum score which candidates must achieve to be selected for a vacancy.
This involves ‘adaptive testing’, which shows candidates questions that take account of their previous responses and whether they were correct or incorrect. Scores are based on how difficult each question is and whether the candidate answers it correctly.
If you want us to explain our decision, challenge a decision or request a review, you can contact us at recruitment.tests@royalmail.com.
Your personal data will only be used by our personnel:
We may also share your personal data with other organisations when required to by law, to prevent or detect crime, or to protect someone’s rights, property, or safety. These organisations include the police, law enforcement agencies and fraud-prevention agencies.
How long we keep your personal data for
We only keep your data for as long as we need to use it. There may also be legal requirements for us to keep your data for a certain length of time. If you have applied for a job, your personal data will automatically be removed 12 months after your last interaction with us. If you are part of our talent community, have signed up for job alerts, or shared your personal details for a personalised career site experience, we will contact you before this time to confirm whether you are happy for us to keep your personal data for a further 12 months. If you do not respond, or if you tell us that you want your personal data to be removed, we will delete all personal data held in our recruitment systems.
If your application is successful, you will find additional relevant information about new joiner and employee data retention in our People Privacy Notice | myroyalmail
In some circumstances you have the right to:
How to contact us
If you want to use any of these legal rights, please contact our Information Rights and Governance Team at information.rights@royalmail.com. Or you can contact our Data Protection Officer at:
Royal Mail Group
185 Farringdon Road
London
EC1A 1AA
If you believe we have not met our legal duties, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF.
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Changes to this privacy notice
We will review our privacy notice regularly and post any updates on this web page. This privacy notice was last updated in March 2025.
In this privacy statement ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘Royal Mail Group’ mean Royal Mail, or whichever company owned by Royal Mail Group Limited you are applying to work for. In this document the ‘site’, ‘website’ and ‘careers website’ all refer to the Royal Mail Group careers website.
The personal data we collect and how we use it
Using the Royal Mail Group careers website:
We may collect and process personal data through our careers website to enhance your experience and personalise content and job recommendations, and to ensure the security and efficiency of our site.
- Accessing the careers website: when you access this site for informational purposes, certain information is collected automatically. This information (known as web server log files) includes the type of web browser used, device operating system, the domain name of your internet service provider and similar information. In addition, your IP address is transmitted. This is necessary to allow you access the service you have requested and is required for use of the Internet. In line with Royal Mail Group’s IT Security policy, this log file data is stored for a period of 180 days to detect and analyse any possible attacks against the website.
- Personalised job recommendations: Our careers website gives you the option to receive personalised job recommendations. We use the information you provide voluntarily on the website or via the chatbot (preferred place of work, work experience, skills, and job description) to present you relevant jobs. If you choose to upload a CV, we automatically extract the mentioned information and use it to present you with relevant job offers. We store your data using a cookie in pseudonymous form for 12 months to allow the website to present you relevant job offers based on your data when revisit the website. It is not possible for us to identify a specific person with this data.
- Creating a profile: When you provide information for the personalised job recommendations, you have the option to provide additional personal information (name, email address) on a voluntary basis. If you provide us with these details, we will store your data for 12 months to allow us to present you with personalised job recommendations and to be able to address you personally.
- Signing up for Job Alerts: We use a double-opt-in process for the Job Alert registration. After you have provided your email address, a confirmation email will be sent to you asking you to confirm that you wish to receive the Job Alert. Provided you have confirmed your wish to receive the Job Alert, we will store your email address for 12 months or until you unsubscribe. We store this data to send you relevant job offers based on your search details. We also save the time stamp of your registration to prevent misuse of your personal data, and so that we can provide proof of correct sending. The only mandatory information for setting up a Job Alert is your email address, your preferred place of work and your career level, to allow us to send relevant job recommendations. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link provided in every Job Alert email.
- Incomplete applications: If you begin the application process and provide your contact details, but do not submit the completed application, we will retain a record of your partial application. This will include your name and email address but may also include additional information depending on how much of the application form was completed before you left the site. We may use this information to send you a limited number of reminder emails to complete your application while the vacancy is still advertised on the website.
When you start or complete an application for a job or join our Talent Community, we will use personal data as part of our recruitment process and to keep suitable records. The personal data we use will include:
- details of who you are and how we can contact you, such as your name, email address, home address, and phone number
- information included in your CV, cover letters or application form. This might include your education and work experience, your professional qualifications, and details of any professional organisations of which you are a member.
- personal insights used to personalise your website experience, including preferred place of work, areas of interest and future career preferences.
- information received from social profiles such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Facebook or Google when you register to access services on the website using these accounts. In addition to your name and contact information, this may include other information such as your current employer and your role. The data transferred to us is dependent on the settings of your profile or other settings of these external platforms. The data controller in this case is not Royal Mail Group, but usually the operator of the respective database.
- information voluntarily provided by you in relation to diversity and inclusion monitoring, including gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability status and reasonable adjustment requirements.
- data generated from any assessments carried out as part of the recruitment process, including any psychological, technical, behavioural, or competency-based assessments or interviews. You will receive information about the assessments relevant to the role you have applied to before you complete them.
- information to help us carry out pre-employment checks to meet our legal obligations, including documents confirming your right to work, your National Insurance number and information required to complete criminal records and financial probity checks.
We may obtain or collect information about you from the following sources:
- From you, when you submit your CV or personal details via our website when you personalise your website experience, sign up for job alerts, begin or complete an application for a role, or join our talent community to receive updates about career offers and HR marketing information.
- From our careers site chatbot, when you use the chatbot to search and apply for roles, or to find out information about Royal Mail Group opportunities and our recruitment processes.
- From referees whose details you provide us to carry our reference checks.
- Via website cookies.
- Via social media and job-search platform data obtained by our recruiters or hiring managers from CV databases or professional networking sites (e.g., CV Library, Indeed.co.uk, LinkedIn etc.) where you have made data about yourself available.
- From profile data shared by social networks such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Facebook or Google if you register to access services on the website using these accounts. In this case, you are agreeing that the data from these networks may be copied into our recruiting platform.
- From third-party agencies, recruiters and organisations providing work-finding services.
- Via our assessment and selection process, including online assessment tools and interview notes.
- Through external suppliers in the process of completing mandatory pre-employment screening, including but not limited to the Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS), Disclosure Scotland and credit reference agencies.
- personalise your experience on our careers site and provide you with relevant information and job opportunities based on the details you share with us and how you use the website.
- assess your skills, experience, and abilities and whether you are suitable for the job you have applied for or a future job opportunity with Royal Mail Group.
- confirm that you are entitled and eligible to apply for the job, and
- manage the recruitment process (including arranging interviews, updating you on your progress and telling you the outcome of your application).
- allocate you to a relevant talent pool to contact you about suitable future opportunities and HR-related company updates based on the communication preferences you provide.
- We also use your personal details and contact information to help us welcome you to the organisation if you accept a job with us.
- we need to do this to enter a contract with you or so we comply with such a contract,
- we must do so by law as an employer and as a regulated UK business, or
- we have a legitimate interest to do this (such as to make informed decisions on recruitment, to tell you how your application is progressing, and to contact you about suitable job opportunities).
- If you apply for a job but your application is unsuccessful, we will use the contact details you have provided to contact you about other vacancies we think you may be interested in. If you have opted in to receive company updates by email or SMS, you will receive these from time to time. However, if you no longer want us to contact you in this way, you can opt-out or unsubscribe at any time.
We use some special categories of personal data in our recruitment process. This includes details relating to your health, race or ethnic background, and medical, sex and gender information we may need to make reasonable adjustments to the way we work.
- understand your ability to undertake the work required based on your protected characteristics,
- meet our legal duties in relation to employment and disability discrimination, or to protect your rights in relation to employment, social security and social protection laws, and monitor diversity.
You provide this information voluntarily as part of your job application or during the recruitment process.
Information about criminal offences and convictions
We have a legal duty to keep mail safe and may use information about the criminal convictions and offences of prospective employees to run checks on them, so we meet that legal duty.
In the case prospective workers who will not be our employees, or who are not covered by that legal duty, we have a legitimate interest in running those checks to keep mail safe.
Use of AI and Machine Learning in Recruitment
To enhance our recruitment process, we sometimes use AI and machine learning technologies to match and rank applications based on their qualifications, experience, and other relevant criteria. These technologies help us to efficiently identify the best candidates for our open positions by ranking them, but they do not automatically exclude any applications from the shortlisting process.
We sometimes use online assessments to decide whether candidates are suitable for a job. These assessments involve a series of questions to measure ability and set a minimum score which candidates must achieve to be selected for a vacancy.
This involves ‘adaptive testing’, which shows candidates questions that take account of their previous responses and whether they were correct or incorrect. Scores are based on how difficult each question is and whether the candidate answers it correctly.
If you want us to explain our decision, challenge a decision or request a review, you can contact us at recruitment.tests@royalmail.com.
Your personal data will only be used by our personnel:
- involved in the recruitment process,
- involved in helping you to settle into the organisation, or
- who need to communicate with you about your work.
We may also share your personal data with other organisations when required to by law, to prevent or detect crime, or to protect someone’s rights, property, or safety. These organisations include the police, law enforcement agencies and fraud-prevention agencies.
How long we keep your personal data for
We only keep your data for as long as we need to use it. There may also be legal requirements for us to keep your data for a certain length of time. If you have applied for a job, your personal data will automatically be removed 12 months after your last interaction with us. If you are part of our talent community, have signed up for job alerts, or shared your personal details for a personalised career site experience, we will contact you before this time to confirm whether you are happy for us to keep your personal data for a further 12 months. If you do not respond, or if you tell us that you want your personal data to be removed, we will delete all personal data held in our recruitment systems.
If your application is successful, you will find additional relevant information about new joiner and employee data retention in our People Privacy Notice | myroyalmail
In some circumstances you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and check that we are using it legally,
- ask us to correct the personal data we hold about you if it is not accurate or complete,
- ask us to delete your personal data if there is no good reason for us continuing to hold it,
- object to how we use your personal data where we are rely on having a legitimate interest to use it (although if that interest is compelling we may continue to use it),
- ask us to restrict the use of your personal data (for example, if you think that it is not accurate and needs to be checked), and
- ask us to share the data you have provided with another organisation.
How to contact us
If you want to use any of these legal rights, please contact our Information Rights and Governance Team at information.rights@royalmail.com. Or you can contact our Data Protection Officer at:
Royal Mail Group
185 Farringdon Road
London
EC1A 1AA
If you believe we have not met our legal duties, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF.
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Changes to this privacy notice
We will review our privacy notice regularly and post any updates on this web page. This privacy notice was last updated in March 2025.