Data security is very important to us, here’s how we process and secure user information in adherence with UK law

Recent revelations about Facebook’s sharing of user data to third parties has raised awareness and concern over how technology companies use and share personal information. Data security and privacy is particularly important to me, as I have a background in cyber-security, therefore I’ve seen first hand the implications of leaked or stolen data. I consistently ensure we do everything possible at Flexy to protect the information of all our users.

To provide transparency for workers and employers on Flexy, this article outlines how we use and secure data for people who register to undertake temporary and fulltime work on our platform, and for companies that use our service to recruit temporary or fulltime staff.

For workers, we have a legal obligation to undertake a series of checks to ensure candidates on Flexy have the right to work in the UK. For fulltime or temporary work assignments, we are governed by UK law to capture and store details about a candidate including such information as name, home address, date of birth, national insurance number, and a validated copy of an EU passport or UK issued work visa. The full list of right to work documentation can be found on HMRC’s website here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checklist.

In addition to processing the mandatory data to adhere to UK employment law, we also process data to help improve the accuracy of matching candidates with suitable jobs. We take into consideration work experience, skills, location, and qualifications when matching candidates with jobs. In addition, we believe that personality and attitude play a big part in the matching process, which is why we ask candidates to undertake a short psychometric test, and to rate jobs after they have been completed.

To improve the usability of our app, we capture worker experience feedback such as mobile phone model, frequency of app use, screen view times, and crash reports (hopefully not very often). These factors help us improve the user experience of our app, and to troubleshoot issues when they arise.

For companies that use our platform to hire staff, we need basic information such as company name, user name, contact information, job details and preferences. In a similar way to how we process data to improve user experience for workers, we also capture information on how hirers use our portal, what screens are visited most, how the overall platform is navigated, and we also use candidate performance feedback to make a decision on the suitability of future candidates.

All explicit (e.g. name, address, contact info) and implicit (e.g. screen view times, buttons pressed, etc) are kept on a strictly confidential basis within our platform, and will never be shared with third parties.

The information sent to and from our app/website to our servers is fully encrypted. The servers that hold user information is also encrypted, and we have strict access rights so that only a few people (for who it is absolutely necessary), have access to files containing personal information. The entire team at Flexy have signed non-disclosure agreements, and we undertake regular information security training.

We recognise that we are in a privileged position for our users to trust us with some of their most confidential information, which is why we take that responsibility very seriously, and put the strictest measures in place to secure it.

If you have any questions or concerns about Flexy’s data security policy, please contact your account manager, or contact me directly through our website.

Oliver Crofton

Managing Director, Flexy

Click here to view our Privacy Policy.