Privacy Policy

Our Promise to You About Your Personal Information

At London North Eastern Railway, (“LNER”, “we”, “us” and “our”) your data protection rights are very important to us. We understand that your personal details are yours, and we promise to handle them with care - never using them in ways you wouldn't expect. Here's a simple breakdown of our Privacy Policy:

What We Do With Your Info: We'll tell you exactly what we do with the personal details you share with us.
Why It's Legit: We follow the rules - there are laws about data protection, and we'll explain why we're allowed to use your info under these laws.
Your Rights: You've got rights when it comes to your info, and we'll let you know what they are and how you can use them.
Staying in Control: We'll show you how you can stay in charge of your personal details and how we use them.

When we talk about "personal information" or "personal data," we mean details that let us know who you are, like your name, where you live, and how we can reach you.

When we say we "process" your personal info, think of it as us doing anything with it - like collecting it when you sign up, keeping it safe in our systems, using it to help you, or sending it where it needs to go.

Since we're the ones making choices about how your personal info is handled, we're called a "controller." That's just a fancy way of saying we're the ones in charge of your data, and it's our job to make sure everything's done right and by the book.

Need Help with Your Info? Talk to Our Data Protection Officer

Got questions about your personal details or want to know more about your data protection rights? We've got a Data Protection Officer ready to help you out. Here's how you can get in touch:

Email: Shoot a message over to our Data Safe team.

Post: Send a letter to Data Safe at LNER's offices: West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA.

Official Stuff: We're officially on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) list of registered organisations. Our registration number is ZA429672.

Whether you're just curious or want to exercise your data protection rights, we're here to assist.

Where We Get Your Information

When you're thinking about joining the LNER team, we start to learn a bit about you. This happens in different ways:

During Hiring: We collect info from your job applications and sometimes from people who recommend you or through official checks with places like the Home Office and the Disclosure Barring Service.

Online Sign-ups: If you decide to register on our job portal and choose to sign in using your social media or email accounts like LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, or Microsoft, we grab some details from there too.

What Kind of Details We're Talking About:

Here’s a quick look at the sort of personal details we might pick up:

Contact Stuff: Your name, where you live, your email address, phone number, gender, when you were born, your National Insurance number, and your social media profiles.

Who You Are: We’ll need to see documents that prove your identity and where you can work, like your passport.

Your Work and School History: We look at what you've studied and where you've worked, which might include any issues at work that someone’s told us about, and your professional titles if they're important for the job.

Diversity and Equality Stuff: We also collect information that helps us understand how diverse our applicants are.

Remember, we're all about keeping your details safe and sound, and we'll only collect what we need to help you and us make the best decision about your potential employment with LNER.

Why We Need Your Info and What We Do With It

We don't just collect your personal info for no reason – the law is pretty clear that we need to have a good reason for it. Here's when we might use your details:

To Make Things Official: Before we can start working together, we need to sort out the paperwork. That's when we use your info to help set up your employment contract.

To Follow the Rules: There are some legal boxes we have to tick when we hire someone. So, we might need some details from you to make sure we're doing everything by the book.

For Our (and Your) Best Interest: Sometimes, we use your info because it helps us do things better, like figuring out if our job ads are working well. Don't worry – we're not going to use your info this way if it messes with your data protection rights.

There are a few other reasons we might need to use your personal info:

If You Say It's Okay: That's what we call consent.

To Keep You or Others Safe: This is what we call vital interests.

For the Greater Good: Sometimes, it's about what's best for the public interest.

Mixing and Matching Reasons:

Life's complicated, and sometimes the reasons we use your info might overlap. If we find another good reason that fits with why we collected your info in the first place, we might use it that way too.

But no matter what, we're committed to making sure that your data protection rights are always respected and protected.

Who Else Sees Your Info?

Teaming Up with Helpers:
Sometimes, we get a little help from other companies to manage things like our website and keep our tech running smoothly. These helpers are what we call "data processors" – they handle your personal information, but only because we've asked them to and only for specific reasons.

Sharing Your Details with Them:
When we share your info with these third parties, it's only so they can do their job – things like maintaining our website, making sure our IT systems are up to date, backing up our data, and keeping our servers online. We're careful to pick companies that look after your info as well as we do.

Who Are These Third Parties?
For example, our website is powered by a company called eArcu, and all the data you see here is stored safely at Rackspace. In the quest to streamline our hiring process and enhance candidate experience, we've teamed up with Sapia.ai. They're the masterminds behind the AI chat interviews that revolutionise how we screen and interview potential team members.

Working with the Law:
When you're joining our team, we might need to share your details with UK Visas and Immigration to confirm that you're allowed to work. It's all part of making sure everything's legal and above board.

Keeping It Safe:
Before we send your details to any third party, we make sure they're serious about security.

Understanding the Journey of Your Personal Data

When you trust us with your personal information, it's our duty to keep it secure, even when it travels. Here's what happens:

Beyond Borders:
We typically keep your personal data within the safety net of the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). It's our default because we want to maintain the high standards of data protection you expect from us. We do work with suppliers who might be global players, but we only team up with those who can guarantee they have data centres in the EEA. This way, we can ensure that your personal data doesn't stray from the stringent data protection laws the EEA upholds.

Keeping Your Data Safe:
To make sure your personal info gets the VIP treatment it deserves, anywhere in the world, we put strong safeguards in place. This means setting up strict contractual obligations for those who handle your data, making sure they treat it with the care the law demands.

Global Data Sharing with Confidence:
Sometimes, we rely on 'international frameworks'—these are like VIP passes for your data, allowing it to be shared securely across borders while staying protected. We rarely do this as we like to keep your personal data within the safety net of the EEA.

Remember, keeping your data safe is a big deal to us, wherever it goes.

Retention of Your Personal Information with LNER

Securing Your Employment Data:
Once you're part of the LNER team, your personal information isn't just stored; it's protected as part of our ongoing relationship. We keep it on hand to meet our contractual obligations and to ensure we're providing you the best employment experience.

Role-Dependent Retention:
The length of time we hold onto your information isn't a one-size-fits-all deal. It varies, depending on the specific role you fill and the unique legal requirements attached to it.

Legal Timelines for Data Retention:
There are different rules for different data types. For instance, according to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, we're required to retain work-seeker records for no less than a year. This period starts from either the creation date of the records or from the last day we provided you with work-finding services.

Our Approach to Your Data's Lifecycle:
At LNER, we consider the last interaction with you as the cut-off for providing work-finding services. Post the 12-month mark, we move your records to archives. A month after archiving, we permanently and securely erase the data.

This careful timing ensures we stay compliant with legal standards while also respecting security of your personal information.

Understanding Your Data Protection Rights with LNER

Your Data, Your Rules:
Under data protection law, you're in the driver's seat when it comes to your personal information. But, remember, it's not a free-for-all—these rights are subject to specific conditions.

Your Toolkit of Rights:

The Right to Be Informed: You deserve transparency. We'll tell you how and why we're using your data.
The Right of Access: Curious about what info we have on you? Ask away, and we'll show you.
The Right to Rectification: Spot an error in your data? Let us know, and we'll correct it.
The Right to Erasure: Sometimes called 'the right to be forgotten'. If you want us to delete your data, we'll see if the law says we can.
The Right to Restrict Processing: If you want us to stop using your data in certain ways, you can request this.
The Right to Data Portability: Need your data in a handy format to take elsewhere? We can help with that, but only when the processing we’re doing is automated. It’s not an absolute right.
The Right to Object: Not happy with how we're handling your data? You can raise a flag on this.

Understanding Automated Decision Making and Profiling in Hiring

Sapia.ai: An AI-Assisted Approach, Not a Sole Decision-Maker
Our recruitment process incorporates Sapia.ai, an AI tool designed to assist, not replace, human decision-making in hiring. Here's a brief overview:

AI-Assisted Screening: Sapia.ai evaluates candidates through text-based chat interviews, assessing their soft skills and behavioural traits.
Human Involvement: Our team reviews AI-generated recommendations to make the final hiring decisions.
Candidate Insights: Applicants receive personalised feedback to help improve their skills.

Your Rights and Our Responsibilities

We're transparent about the role of Sapia.ai in our recruitment process:

No Solely Automated Decisions: While Sapia.ai provides valuable assistance, it does not make autonomous hiring decisions. Our recruiters remain integral to the decision-making process.

Complexity Simplified: We acknowledge the intricacies of automated decision-making. That's why we ensure Sapia.ai's use in our process is clear, ethical, and always supplemented by human evaluation.

Ethical AI Use: Sapia.ai follows the FAIR™ governance framework, ensuring a fair and transparent recruitment process.

In summary, while Sapia.ai enhances our hiring process, it does not replace the nuanced decision-making of our human recruiters. We are dedicated to upholding your rights and providing a fair, unbiased, and transparent hiring experience.

Handling Your Data Concerns

If you have any issues with how we manage your personal information, we're committed to addressing them swiftly. Please reach out to our dedicated Data Safe team at:

Email: data.safe@lner.co.uk

Should you feel that your concerns have not been resolved satisfactorily, you are entitled to contact the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) to escalate your complaint:

ICO Website: www.ico.org.uk

ICO Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Deleting Your Details from LNER Jobs

If you wish to remove your personal details from the LNER Jobs website, we respect your decision and provide you with the capability to do so. To delete your profile, please follow these steps:

Navigate to LNER Jobs.
Click on the 'Sign in' button to access your account.
Log in with your credentials.
Once logged in, go directly to My Details.
On this page, you will find the option to 'Delete Profile'. Follow the instructions to permanently delete your details from our system.

Please be aware that once you delete your profile, you will not be able to recover any data, and this action cannot be undone. If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our support team.

Updates to Privacy Policy

Please note that our Privacy Policy is subject to periodic evaluation and may be revised to reflect new practices or regulatory changes. The most recent update to this policy was made on 31st January 2024. We encourage you to review our policy regularly to stay informed of how we are protecting your information.