Data Protection & Career Confidentiality

GDPR & Candidate Privacy Policy

At Pharmacy People, we understand that community pharmacy is a tight-knit profession. Your career moves and personal details are handled with strict discretion, absolute confidentiality, and complete compliance with UK GDPR and Data Protection regulations.

Last Updated: 1 November 2026•Applies to: Candidates, Locums & Pharmacy Employers•Jurisdictions: UK, Northern Ireland & Republic of Ireland

Section 01

1. Who We Are & Data Controller Details

Pharmacy People Ltd (“we”, “us”, or “our”) is a specialist pharmacy recruitment agency serving community pharmacies, clinical dispensary teams, and pharmaceutical healthcare employers across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Great Britain.

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the EU GDPR (for individuals within the Republic of Ireland), Pharmacy People acts as a Data Controller in respect of the personal data provided by candidates, locums, and employer clients.

Registered Office: Pharmacy People Ltd, Belfast, United Kingdom

Primary Contact: privacy@pharmacypeople.uk

Direct Telephone: 028 9000 0000

Section 02

2. Types of Personal Data We Collect

To provide effective recruitment matching and fulfill statutory verification duties for regulated pharmacy staff, we collect the following categories of information:

Candidate Personal Details

Full name, title, and contact coordinates
Telephone number and personal email address
Residential location and commuting preferences
Curriculum Vitae (CV) and career history

Regulatory & Professional Credentials

GPhC, PSNI, or PSI registration numbers
Fitness to Practise declaration and register status
Independent Prescriber (IP) annotation status
Dispensing software proficiency (McLernons, ProScript, etc.)

Compliance & Right to Work

Passport, visa, or UK/Irish Right to Work status
Professional Indemnity Insurance certificates (for Locums)
Enhanced AccessNI / DBS certificate references
Professional references from previous Superintendent Pharmacists

Employer & Client Information

Superintendent / Owner contact details
Pharmacy branch locations and dispensary volumes
Hiring criteria, shift patterns, and salary budgets
Direct billing and invoicing details

Section 03

3. Lawful Basis for Processing Your Information

Under UK GDPR Article 6, we rely on the following lawful bases to process your information:

Legitimate Interests

Assessing candidate suitability for live or upcoming vacancies, providing tailored career guidance, and assisting community pharmacies in finding qualified staff.

Performance of a Contract

Arranging temporary locum assignments, negotiating permanent employment contracts, and managing candidate onboarding on your behalf.

Legal Obligation

Complying with Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations, performing statutory Right-to-Work audits, and verifying fitness to practise on public statutory registers.

Explicit Consent

Where candidate authorization is required to introduce a candidate to a specific named employer or submit applications for confidential roles.

Section 05

5. Data Retention Periods

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the recruitment purposes for which it was gathered and to comply with legal record-keeping requirements:

Data Category	Standard Retention	Purpose / Statutory Driver
Active Candidate Profiles	Duration of career engagement + 2 years of inactivity	Matching with upcoming pharmacy openings
Placed Candidates & Locum Records	6 years from placement date	Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations & HMRC audit
Unsuccessful Applications	12 months	Handling candidate feedback & equality monitoring

Section 06

6. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You possess clear rights regarding the personal information we hold about you:

Right of Access

Request a full copy of your personal data held within our systems free of charge.

Right to Rectification

Update or correct any out-of-date salary expectations, qualifications, or credentials.

Right to Erasure (“To Be Forgotten”)

Instruct us to delete your candidate record and CV permanently where statutory retention permits.

Right to Restrict Processing

Pause active recruitment matching while maintaining your saved profile for future reference.

Section 07

7. Security & Encryption Standards

All data submitted through our candidate portal, CV upload tools, and employer briefs is protected using modern enterprise security controls:

SSL / TLS 1.3 Encryption: All browser-to-server communications are encrypted in transit with 256-bit SSL certificates.
Role-Based Consultant Access: Only authenticated, senior recruitment consultants have access to candidate CV vaults. Recruiter portals require multi-factor session tokens.
UK & EU Data Hosting: Candidate records are held within high-security European data centres compliant with ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials guidelines.

8. Data Protection Enquiries & Subject Access Requests

If you have questions about this policy, wish to update your preferences, or would like to exercise any of your GDPR data rights, please contact our dedicated Data Officer:

Email: privacy@pharmacypeople.uk

Postal Address: Data Protection Officer, Pharmacy People Ltd, Belfast, UK

Supervisory Authority: You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or the Data Protection Commission (DPC) Ireland at dataprotection.ie.