Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy

This policy explains:

• What information we collect during our application and recruitment process and why we collect it;
• How we use that information; and
• How to access and update that information.

Your use of Google services is governed by any applicable terms and our general Privacy Policy.

Types of information we collect

This policy covers the information you share with us and/or which may be acquired or produced by Google LLC, its subsidiaries and its affiliates during the application or recruitment process including:

• Your name, address, email address, telephone number and other contact information;
• Your resume or CV, cover letter, previous and/or relevant work experience or other experience, education, transcripts, or other information you provide to us in support of an application and/or the application and recruitment process;
• Information from interviews and phone-screenings you may have, if any;
• Details of the type of employment you are or may be looking for, current and/or desired salary and other terms relating to compensation and benefits packages, willingness to relocate, or other job preferences;
• Details of how you heard about the position you are applying for;
• Any sensitive and/or demographic information processed during the application or recruitment process such as gender, information about your citizenship and/or nationality, medical or health information and/or your racial or ethnic origin;
• Reference information and/or information received from background checks (where applicable), including information provided by third parties;
• Information relating to any previous applications you may have made to Google and/or any previous employment history with Google;
• Your information from publicly available sources, including online, that we believe is relevant to your application or a potential future application (e.g. your LinkedIn profile); and/or
• Information related to any assessment you may take as part of the interview screening process.

How we use information we collect

Your information will be used by Google for the purposes of carrying out its application and recruitment process which includes:

• Assessing your skills, qualifications and interests against our career opportunities;
• Verifying your information and carrying out reference checks and/or conducting background checks (where applicable) if you are offered a job;
• Communications with you about the recruitment process and/or your application(s), including, in appropriate cases, informing you of other potential career opportunities at Google;
• Creating and/or submitting reports as required under any local laws and/or regulations, where applicable;
• Where requested by you, assisting you with obtaining an immigration visa or work permit where required;
• Making improvements to Google’s application and/or recruitment process;
• Complying with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes or enforceable governmental requests; and/or
• Proactively conducting research about your educational and professional background and skills and contacting you if we think you would be suitable for a role with us.
• We may process information regarding your demographics as described above where we are required to do so to meet our legal and contractual obligations, such as reporting obligations to authorities and third parties and other similar requirements.

Google may also use your information to help develop, train, fine-tune, and improve machine learning models and foundational technologies that power various Google products and tools, including internal tools and where it is in our legitimate interests to do so.

We will also use your information to protect the rights and property of Google, our users, applicants, candidates, employees or the public as required or permitted by law.

If you are offered and accept employment with Google, the information collected during the application and recruitment process will become part of your employment record.

If EU data protection or UK data protection law applies to the processing of your information, our legal basis for processing your information

We collect and process your information where it is necessary in order to take steps, at your request, prior to potentially entering into a contract of employment with you.

We may also seek your consent to process your personal information in specific circumstances, or process it where necessary to comply with a legal obligation or for purposes connected to legal claims. If we use your information to improve our application or recruitment process, we do so on the basis that it is in our legitimate interests to ensure we recruit the best possible candidates.

Where we process special categories of data such as health information, or racial or ethnic origin, we will only do so where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, with your consent, or where otherwise required by applicable local law, including our obligations under employment and social security and social protection law.

Who may have access to your information

• Your information may be shared with our affiliates, subsidiaries or joint ventures in the US and in other jurisdictions, in relation to the purposes described above. If you have been referred for a job at Google by a current Google employee, with your consent, we may inform that employee about the progress of your application and let the Google employee know the outcome of the process. In some cases, if it is identified that you have attended the same university/school or shared the same previous employer during the same period as a current Google employee we may consult with that employee for feedback on you.
• Google may also use service providers acting on Google’s behalf to perform some of the services described above including for the purposes of the verification / background checks. These service providers may be located outside the country in which you live or the country where the position you have applied for is located.
• Google may sometimes be required to disclose your information to external third parties such as to local labour authorities, courts and tribunals, regulatory bodies and/or law enforcement agencies for the purpose of complying with applicable laws and regulations, or in response to legal process.
• We will also share your personal information with other third parties if we have your consent (for example if you have given us permission to contact your referees), or to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or to protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, our users, applicants, candidates, employees or the public or as otherwise required by law.
• It is your responsibility to obtain consent from referees before providing their personal information to Google.
• Google operates globally, which means your information may be stored and processed outside of the country or region where it was originally collected including in the United States. In some of these countries, you may have fewer rights in respect of your information than you do in your country of residence. Regardless of where your information is processed, we apply the same protections described in this policy. We comply with certain legal frameworks relating to the transfer of data, such as the frameworks described below.
  • Adequacy Decisions: The European Commission has determined that certain countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) adequately protect personal data, which means that data can be transferred from the European Union (EU) and Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland to those countries. The United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland have adopted similar adequacy mechanisms. We rely on the following adequacy mechanisms:
    • European Commission adequacy decisions
    • UK adequacy regulations
    • Swiss adequacy decisions

    EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks. As described in our Data Privacy Framework certification, we comply with the EU-U.S. and Swiss-US Data Privacy Frameworks (DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of EEA, UK, and Swiss personal information. Google LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (unless expressly excluded), has certified that it adheres to the DPF Principles. Google remains responsible for any of your personal information that is shared under the Onward Transfer Principle with third parties for external processing, as described above. To learn more about the DPF, and to view Google’s certification, please visit the DPF website. Google is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the US Federal Trade Commission. If you have an inquiry regarding our privacy practices in relation to our DPF certification, we encourage you to contact hrdatarequest@google.com. You may also refer a complaint to your local data protection authority and we will work with them to resolve your concern. In certain circumstances, the DPF provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the DPF Principles.

  • Standard contractual clauses. The European Commission has approved the use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) as a means of ensuring adequate protection when transferring data outside of the EEA. Such clauses have also been approved for transfers of data to countries outside the UK and Switzerland. By incorporating SCCs into a contract established between the parties transferring data, personal data is considered protected when transferred outside the EEA, Switzerland or the UK to countries which are not covered by an adequacy decision. We rely on SCCs for our data transfers where required and in instances where they are not covered by an adequacy decision. If you want to obtain a copy of the SCCs, you can contact hrdatarequest@google.com.

Google takes appropriate steps to protect information about you that is collected, processed, and stored as part of the application and recruitment process.

Our retention of your information

If you apply for a job at Google and your application is unsuccessful (or you withdraw from the process or decline our offer), Google will retain your information for a period after your application. We retain this information for various reasons, including in case we face a legal challenge in respect of a recruitment decision, to consider you for other current or future jobs at Google and to help us better understand, analyze and improve our recruitment processes.

If you do not want us to retain your information for consideration for other roles, or want us to update it, please contact hrdatarequest@google.com. Please note, however, that we may retain some information if required by law or as necessary to protect ourselves from legal claims.

Your rights in respect of your information

In certain countries, you may have certain rights under data protection law. This may include the right to request access or to update or review your information, request that it be deleted or anonymized, or object to or restrict Google using it for certain purposes.

If you wish to exercise a right of access please contact hrdatarequest@google.com. We will respond to any requests in accordance with applicable law, and so there may be circumstances where we are not able to comply with your request.

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Brazil and if you can’t find the answer to your question in this policy, you can contact Google’s Data Protection Officer at: data-protection-office@google.com. Depending on your country of residence, you may also raise any questions or concerns you have regarding your personal information with your local data protection authority.

Changes to this Policy

We may change this policy from time to time. We will post any changes to this policy on this page.

Last updated: February 28, 2025