DS Smith Job Applicant Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice sets out how DS Smith Plc, and any of our related affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively, "DS Smith" or "we") use and protect your personal data in accordance with current data protection law.

Data we collect

If you apply for a job with us, we will collect, use and store personal data about you. To the extent permitted by law, this may include:

Data you provide to us: 

  • contact details (name, address, phone numbers, email, etc.); qualification details (such as résumé, CV, cover letter, work experience, education, transcripts); 
  • application information (such as current and expected remuneration, type of job wanted, availability, references); 
  • identification details (such as passport number, date of birth, nationality and residence, government ID numbers (e.g. Social Security Number), immigration status, right to work information and visa information);
  • if you have any special assistance requirements - such as specific accessibility needs - you will be asked to provide information on such requirements (this information will only be used to ensure that your needs are catered for at the interview stage); and
  • any other data you submit to us, including any correspondence between you and DS Smith exchanged during the application process.
  • optional data about ethnicity, nationality, disability and gender may be requested for the use of diversity and inclusion monitoring purposes only. For the avoidance of doubt, any such data that you choose to provide will be stored anonymously and will not form part of the application process.

Data from other sources:

we may also obtain data about you from other sources, such as recruiters, market research companies, identity verification providers, and information accessible via the Internet and third-party websites, such as LinkedIn. If you have consented to background checks and/or where permitted by local law, we may also carry out financial checks and/or collect details of professional registrations, sanctions from professional bodies, or criminal convictions.

Automatically collected information:

When you apply using the application portal, we may gather information from your computer, mobile phone or other device. Further information on what information is collected can be found on our privacy and cookies policy.

Purposes

DS Smith may access, use and store your personal data to:

  • process your application, assess your qualifications and verify your identity and eligibility for the role;
  • assess your skills and interest in career opportunities at DS Smith;
  • communicate with you about your application, reply to your inquiries, organise interviews, appointments and phone calls and send updates to you about other recruitment opportunities;
  • protect the security of DS Smith's premises, assets, systems, and intellectual property, enforce company policies and permit the functionality of our online portal, including to authorise the creation of online accounts, provide customer service and reset passwords; 
  • comply with applicable laws and protect DS Smith's legitimate business interests and legal rights, including, but not limited to, use in connection with legal claims, compliance, regulatory, investigative and disciplinary purposes (including disclosure of such information in connection with legal process or litigation) and other ethics and compliance reporting tools.
  • If you accept an offer of employment with DS Smith, the personal data collected during the pre-employment period will become part of your personnel records with DS Smith and will be retained throughout your employment with us and for a number of years after that in accordance with local laws and the DS Smith Document Retention Policy

Disclosure to third parties

Where necessary for business purposes, we may share personal data between DS Smith group companies.  

Personal information may be shared with government authorities and/or law enforcement officials if required for the purposes above, if mandated by law or if required for the protection of DS Smith's legitimate interests in compliance with applicable laws. 

Personal data may also be shared with third party service providers who will process it on behalf of DS Smith for the purposes above. We use third party providers of website hosting, maintenance and identity checking, assessments (including psychometric assessments), candidate application processing, background checking and manpower services.

In the event that DS Smith is sold or integrated with another business, your details may be disclosed to DS Smith advisers and any prospective purchaser's adviser and will be passed to the new owners of the business. 

What is DS Smith's legal basis for processing your personal data?

We process your personal information because it is necessary to assess your job application (for example, reviewing your qualifications is necessary to determine your eligibility for a position). 

On other occasions, we process your personal data where we are required by law (for example, to comply with record keeping obligations); or we process your personal data when it is in DS Smith’s legitimate interests to do this and when these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights. We have carried out balancing tests for all the data processing we carry out on the basis of our legitimate interests. You can obtain information on any of our balancing tests by contacting us using the details set out later in this notice.

We may also process your personal data on the basis of your consent (for example, where we need to ask your permission to conduct a criminal background check).

Retention of your data

We will retain your personal data in a form that identifies you for no longer than is necessary for the purposes needed for the application. If your application is successful, the information provided may be retained for purposes of your employment. If it is not successful, we may retain your personal information for up to 2 years as part of our talent pool in case of future vacancies that you may be suitable for.  If you wish to have your data removed from the talent pool, you should contact recruitment@dssmith.com.

Your Choices and Rights

For Employees within the European Union

If you wish to access your personal data you should contact recruitment@dssmith.com.

You have the right to ask DS Smith to rectify, block or restrict access to, complete and delete your personal data. You can also ‘port’ your personal data (that is, to ask us to provide it to you in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to transmit it directly to another organisation). You have the right to request further information about the handling of your personal data. 

In some circumstances you can also object to us processing of your data and, where we have asked for consent to process your data, you may be able to withdraw this consent. 

All requests will be dealt with at the earliest opportunity and any delay will be kept to a minimum. In any event, we will not exceed the statutory time limit. 

However, there are exceptions to these rights. For example, access to personal data may be denied in some circumstances if making the information available would reveal personal information about another person or if DS Smith are legally prevented from disclosing such information. In addition, DS Smith may be able to retain data even if you withdraw your consent, where DS Smith can demonstrate that it has a legal requirement to process your data. We will inform you of relevant exemptions we rely upon when responding to any request you make.

If you have unresolved concerns, you have the right to complain to an EU data protection authority where you live, work or where you believe a breach may have occurred.

Transfer outside EEA

Personal data may be transferred to our affiliates and suppliers in countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), and may be stored and processed manually and electronically through global systems and tools for the purposes outlined above. 

When transferring personal data to countries outside the EEA, we comply with European Union law by using Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission or by adopting other adequate safeguards (including where relevant transfers to a recipient with an appropriate Privacy Shield certification). A copy of the relevant transfer mechanism can be provided for your review on request to recruitment@dssmith.com.

Updates to this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be updated periodically to reflect changes in our data practices. We will post a notice on our applicable websites, applications or materials to advise of any significant changes to our Privacy Notice and indicate in the notice when it was most recently updated. 

Who can I contact with questions or concerns?

If you have a privacy question, concern or request, please email us at recruitment@dssmith.com.