Removing Personal Identifiable Information in Recruitment Campaigns
Request ID: FOI-1549-2223 Date published: 21 October 2022
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
This FoI request is about your commitment to Equality and Diversity.
Please provide your policy document on the "removal" procedure when a recruitment campaign states that personal identifiable information will be "removed" from applicant's materials. I am specifically requesting an answer for the following questions (if not addressed in the policy document):
- Actions to take if the applicant has already removed or redacted the sensitive information.
- Is this process automated or does it involve human supervision/approval? If so, by whom?
- What information is being removed?
- At what stage (screening, interview, offer-making) will the information be hidden from the recruiter (hiring manager/interviewer/decision maker/recruitment consultant)?
- At what stage will the removed information be disclosed to the relevant parties?
- What happens if the should-be removed information was identified by the recruiter?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1549-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27th September 2022 asking for information about TfL recruitment campaigns.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below. Note that we do not anonymise applications for all roles, just those within bands 1-4.
Question 1: Please provide your policy document on the "removal" procedure when a recruitment campaign states that personal identifiable information will be "removed" from applicant's materials.
Answer: There is no such ‘policy document’. However, note that we publish information for applicants about how we use the tool athttps://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and-cookies/external-recruitment Note also that a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was carried out to ensure the technology is being used appropriately.
Question 2: Actions to take if the applicant has already removed or redacted the sensitive information.
Answer: The CV and cover letter will still go through anonymisation software and any additional information that the candidate has not removed will be removed.
Question 3: Is this process automated or does it involve human supervision/approval? If so, by whom?
Answer: The redaction process is automated - due to the high volumes of applicants a manual process would not be feasible. We use bespoke software that anonymises CVs and cover letters using the parameters explained below.
Question 4: What information is being removed?
Answer: The following information is removed:
Name
Email
Address
Gender
Cities and Towns
Countries
Disability
Ethnicities & Nationalities
Sexuality
Religion
Marital Status
Hobbies & Interest
Age
Universities
Schools
Phone Numbers
URL’s
Social Media
Airports
References
Question 5: At what stage (screening, interview, offer-making) will the information be hidden from the recruiter (hiring manager/interviewer/decision maker/recruitment consultant)?
Answer: The information is hidden from the hiring manager up until the point the manager has confirmed the candidates that have met criteria to be interviewed. At that point the candidates will be interviewed using a diverse interview panel.
Question 6: At what stage will the removed information be disclosed to the relevant parties?
Answer: Prior to interview the full application is available to the hiring manager.
Question 7: What happens if the should-be removed information was identified by the recruiter?
Answer: The recruiter (TfL) has full access to all information that candidates have submitted. As explained above, the hiring managers are only sent anonymised CVs up until the point the manager has confirmed the candidates that have met criteria to be interviewed.
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
