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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Introduction

This notice sets out the purposes for which your personal information may be collected and/or processed by Network Rail relating to your application(s) to certain recruitment activity.

Personal data is information which relates to or identifies you either on its own or when it is combined with other information we hold about you. We take your right to privacy seriously and we want you to feel comfortable with the information you give us. This privacy notice explains everything you need to know about how we manage your data in relation to our recruitment processes.

Any reference to Network Rail in this privacy policy shall mean Network Rail Infrastructure Limited.



Who is the data controller for your application?

Network Rail is the Data Controller, for the purposes of data protection law, for the personal data that we collect from you or obtain from you in relation to your application(s) for the roles within Network Rail which we process in accordance with the below Privacy Notice and the Network Rail Privacy Notices:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/data-protection/
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/footer/privacy-notice/



What personal information do we hold about you?

We may collect and process the following categories of information at any point of the recruitment process

  • Personal details
    Name, home address, marital status, maiden name.
  • Business contact details
    Current company email address, place of work, company telephone number, company mobile number.
  • Personal contact details
    Personal email address, home telephone number, personal mobile number.
  • Recruitment information
    Application forms, CVs, interview notes, details and verification of education and qualifications, employment history, references, credit reference checks (for certain roles) , information collected from aborted applications.
  • Medical and health information
    Details regarding your health, including medical conditions which we may need in order to make reasonable adjustments for the interview process and any reasonable adjustments requested.
    Occupational health reports produced as part of our pre-employment health questionnaire process, including drug and alcohol tests.
  • Criminal offences and convictions
    Details regarding any unspent criminal convictions or offences.
  • Other sensitive information
    Details regarding trade union membership, race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation.
  • Video images
    Video images captured on CCTV if you attend interview at our premises.
  • Data created as part of the recruitment and selection process
    Notes of your answers and responses during recruitment interviews, results/outcomes of any assessment processes/exercises carried out as part of the recruitment process, notes and scoring as part of our assessment of whether you should be offered a role.

This information may be provided:

  • In the course of communications between you and us (including by phone, email, post or otherwise, including sending us your CV or completing application forms.
  • Via our recruitment website.
  • By us when carrying out interviews or assessments.
  • Via CCTV.
  • By third parties - see below for information we obtain from other sources.

Where you have provided personal data by becoming an applicant to one of our jobs, we will hold the below data. Denoted in brackets is Network Rail's data classification which informs how this data is stored, how it is processed and who is able to access it.

  • Your first and last name (personal)
  • Your email address (personal)
  • Your address (personal)
  • Any disability information provided in relation to reasonable adjustments (sensitive)
  • Your racial or ethnic origin (sensitive)
  • Your religious beliefs or beliefs of a similar nature (sensitive)
  • Your gender (personal)
  • Your sexual orientation (sensitive)
  • Any offences or criminal investigations* (sensitive)
  • Behavioural evidence relating to assessments (personal)
  • Results of medical screening (sensitive)
  • Results of drug and alcohol screening (sensitive)

*Criminal convictions - All new joiners are subject to baseline personnel security standard set out by the cabinet office and this check is a part of this.



Suppliers

We use different supplier to undertake the different elements of the recruitment process, and this is explained below:

Aon Assessment (UK) Ltd - Psychometric Testing
https://networkrail.maptq.com/networkrail/home/en/privacy/1jtklo06

Aon Assessment (UK) Ltd - Video Interviewing
https://networkrail.maptq.com/networkrail/home/en/privacy/1jtklo06

Amberjack - Graduate and Apprentice Recruitment Management
https://www.weareamberjack.com/privacy-policy/

Amberjack - Signaller Applicant Screening
https://www.weareamberjack.com/privacy-policy/

Babcock - Apprenticeship registration
https://www.babcockinternational.com/privacy/

Optima Health for Drugs and Alcohol Testing, medical assessment.
https://www.optimahealth.co.uk/privacy-policy/

Oracle iRecruitment - Recruitment Management
https://www.oracle.com/uk/legal/privacy/

Security Watchdog - Pre-employment checking.
https://www.securitywatchdog.org.uk/privacy-policy

TopScore Technologies Ltd - Virtual Assessment Centres
https://www.topscoretech.com/privacy-policy/



How will we record/store/process/protect the information about you

The next table outlines at what stage of our recruitment processes this data, how long it is retained, which other third-party organisations we share this with and who has access to it.

Our legal basis for processing your data is that processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract. Data is anonymised or destroyed after 6 months from campaign review meeting, in line with Network Rail¿s data retention policies and procedures.

  • Note: We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which jobs may be relevant to you.
  • You will receive job communications alerts from us if you have requested information from us or if we have provided you with recruitment services and, in each case, you have not opted out of receiving such alerts.
  • We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to produce management information reporting to allow us to analyse the success and effectiveness of our attraction methods, and recruitment processes.
  • We may use your anonymised assessment information together with your biographical information to allow us to understand and improve the validity, reliability and fairness of the assessment we conduct for each role.




To apply for a vacancy and create candidate account

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact Details + Sensitive information (for monitoring purposes only)
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle


To Screen you against the role you've applied for

  • Type of Data: Personal
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Team, Hiring Manager, Supplier screeners, Supplier recruitment operations team (Graduates and Apprentices only)
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Amberjack (Graduates, Apprentices and Signaller applicants)


For you to complete psychometric testing

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Team
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Aon Assessment Ltd, Oracle


For you to complete Video Interviews

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system, Secure Supplier Portal
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Team, Amberjack recruitment operations team (Graduates and Apprentices only)
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Aon Assessment Ltd, Amberjack


To administer virtual assessments

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system, Secure Supplier Portal
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, TopScore Technologies Ltd


To invite you to assessment centre

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, Amberjack recruitment operations team (Graduates and Apprentices only)
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Amberjack


To communicate with you throughout the recruitment campaign including feedback and queries

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, Bavarde for queries and feedback (Signallers only) , Amberjack recruitment operations team (Graduates and Apprentices only)
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Bavarde, Amberjack


To perform compliance checks and record your performance in assessments e.g. interviews.

  • Type of Data: Personal
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle


To process your pre-employment screening checks

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact, Sensitive
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking system, Oracle e-business, Security watchdog portal
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, HR Shared Services On-boarding Team, Security Watchdog, Disclosure Barring Service for background checking, Babcock International (apprentice scheme only)
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Security Watchdog, Disclosure Baring Service, Babcock International for apprentice schemes


To process your medical, health questionnaire and drugs and alcohol testing (if applicable to your role)

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact, Sensitive
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking System, Oracle e-business (internal system), OH Assist Portal, New Entrant Shared Drive
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, HR Shared Services On-boarding, Optima Health for Drugs and Alcohol Testing, medical assessment.
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle, Optima Health


To make you a formal offer

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact, Sensitive
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking System, Oracle e-business (internal system)
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, HR Shared Services On-boarding.
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle


To complete your hire

  • Type of Data: Personal Contact, Sensitive
  • Where is the data held: Applicant tracking System, Oracle e-business (internal system)
  • Who has access to it: Recruitment Teams, HR Shared Services On-boarding, NRSS Data Changes & NRSS Payroll Processing
  • Other organisations the data is shared with: Oracle




How we store and protect your personal information

All data will be stored securely by Network Rail and the Supplier in the European Economic Area (EEA) or UK. All suppliers either hold an ISO 270001 Certificate, Cyber Security Certification or have gone through a stringent risk assessment process by Network Rail information security. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

We have strong security measures in place to prevent the personal information being misused in anyway. We limit access to your personal information to those employees who have a business need to access this only and who are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you (and any applicable regulator) of a breach where we are legally required to do so.



How long we will keep our personal information for

For candidates who become employees, documents supporting recruitment and application are retained for the duration of your employment term plus six years.

If you are unsuccessful, your personal information is deleted 12 months after your most recent application.



What are my rights in relation to personal information?

You have certain rights with respect to your personal information. Please see our website for further details: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/data-protection



Automated decision-making

Some of our recruitment processes use 'pre-screening' questions that involve automated decision-making. For example, if you state that you do not have the right to work in the UK on your application form, your application will not proceed any further. Should you wish to request human intervention in reviewing your application, please contact: recruitmentsupport@networkrail.co.uk



Removing your personal details from our system

If you wish to remove your personal details from our recruitment platforms please contact EmployeeRecords@networkrail.co.uk



Questions, comments and requests regarding data protection matters are welcomed and should be addressed to the Data Protection Officer (data.protection@networkrail.co.uk)

In writing: Data Protection Officer

Network Rail
The Quadrant
Milton Keynes
MK9 1EN

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to: recruitmentsupport@networkrail.co.uk



Disclosure of other personal information to Network Rail

Please be aware of the following:

Social media -social media posts relating to certain recruitment activity are on open forums which are visible to all. Any personal information posted on these platforms is done at the risk of the person posting Any inappropriate posts will be dealt with / reported as appropriate.

Facebook - Facebook pages relating to certain recruitment campaigns are on open forums which are visible to all. Any personal information posted on Facebook is done at the risk of the person posting. Any inappropriate posts will be dealt with / reported as appropriate.

Email - any generic recruitment inbox email addresses are accessible by a restricted list of recruitment team members. The inboxes are monitored to respond to emails; any personal information submitted to these inboxes will not be shared without prior consent. However, your email will be responded to as appropriate. Please note that if you are sending an email with special category information (e.g. your disability) you can mark your email as OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL making it explicitly clear to handle your email with the appropriate level of care.



Accessibility

If you require this privacy notice in a different format, Network Rail will make every effort to facilitate this. Please contact the appropriate graduate or apprentice recruitment team by email to request a different format.



Changes to this privacy notice

This policy was last updated in April 2026



How to complain to the regulator

We will try to resolve any concerns you may have but if you are not satisfied with the way your personal information is collected, processed or maintained you can raise the issue with the Information Commissioner's Office:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

ICO Website: https://ico.org.uk/