1.Who we are
CV Pod runs the hiring marketplace at cvpod.com, launching in the United Kingdom. We are responsible for your account, your Pod controls, sharing, application activity and platform safety. Each employer is responsible for its own hiring decisions and must tell you how it uses hiring data. We will confirm our exact controller arrangements after legal review and update this policy before launch.
2.What we collect
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Account | Name, email, login details, roles (Candidate, Hirer, Referee), language and notification choices |
| Your Pod | Display name, headline, timeline entries, skills, availability, optional right-to-work declaration, sharing settings and saved versions |
| Voice | Recordings you choose to save, generated transcripts and captions, and your corrections |
| Proof | Work samples, credential summaries and evidence you upload |
| Vouches | Referee name, private contact address, relationship, response, optional note, consent and timestamps |
| Identity checks | Check status, method, timestamps and outcome. Manual routes also involve a passport image and a live video comparison. |
| Applications | The Pod snapshot you sent, opens, section views, listens, decisions, answers, messages and deadlines |
| Search | The town or postcode you type to search near. It is never shown to employers. |
| Employers | Business details, Companies House number, domain-check result, named Hirer identity and role, agency authority |
| Billing | Purchases, invoices, VAT, refunds and payment references. Card details are held by Stripe, not by us. |
| Safety | Reports, moderation records and appeals |
We never ask for your age, date of birth, graduation date or a profile photo.
3.Why we use it
- To run your account and Pod, so you can create, edit, share and switch off your Pod.
- To send applications you choose to make, together with the exact snapshot you shared.
- To show you application activity, so you can see what an employer did with your Pod.
- To display Vouches, based on the referee's own consent to display.
- To verify identities and employers and keep the marketplace honest.
- To calculate Public Reply Records from application events, published only as aggregate figures.
- To bill employers and meet tax and accounting duties.
- To handle reports, safety issues and disputes.
We will document a specific lawful basis under UK GDPR for each purpose. Agreeing to our terms is not treated as permission for everything.
4.Who can see what
- Employers see only the fields and media you chose to share with their job, plus your "Identity verified" badge if you have one. They never see your documents, your other applications, your activity with other employers or your search location.
- Employer browsing shows your Pod only if you opt in, and only the fields you enable.
- Referees see only the claim they're asked about, never your full Pod or applications.
- Agencies can access your Pod only with your explicit, recorded permission, which you can revoke.
- The public sees each employer's aggregate reply figures. Individual rejection reasons are private to you and the employer.
- Our Trust Team sees only what is needed for a specific case, and that access is logged.
5.Voice answers
Voice answers are optional. You preview each one and choose whether to save and share it. We use recordings so employers can hear you, never to identify you or assess you. We do not analyse tone, accent, pace or emotion.
Transcripts exist so you and employers can read your answers; they are never analysed to evaluate you. Practice recordings are never saved to your Pod. After we convert your recording to our standard audio format, the original file is deleted within 24 hours.
6.Application activity
When an employer opens your Pod, views a section or plays an answer, we record it and show it on your application timeline in UK time. We tell both you and the employer about this before an application is made. These records come from our own systems. We do not use third-party tracking pixels, and an employer can never see your activity with other employers.
7.Identity checks
A check confirms your identity only. If you use the manual route, your passport image is encrypted, available only to restricted Trust Team staff, and deleted within 7 days of the decision. We keep the outcome, method, timestamps and the reviewer's record.
Your badge never reveals your document type, document number, nationality or which provider was used. You can apply while a check is pending or unavailable.
8.No automated judgement
CV Pod does not use AI or automated decision-making to score, rank, filter or judge candidates. Every hiring decision is made by a named person at the employer, who confirms they reviewed your application. If you believe a decision was automated, or that this confirmation is untrue, tell us and the Trust Team will look into it.
9.Service providers
We use carefully chosen providers under contract: Stripe for employer payments and tax calculation; Google Cloud (UK-hosted infrastructure) for hosting, private storage and audio delivery; Companies House for employer lookups; and an identity-verification provider and email, SMS and push providers, which we will name here once selected.
Audio is delivered through short-lived links that expire after 60 seconds. We never sell your data.
10.How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Manual identity-document images | Deleted within 7 days of the Trust Team decision |
| Original audio uploads | Deleted within 24 hours of conversion; failed uploads within 7 days |
| Application snapshots and activity | Up to 12 months after the job closes, then deleted or anonymised unless a documented reason applies |
| Active Pod and voice media | Until you delete them or ask for erasure (removed within 30 days) |
| Billing records and VAT invoices | At least 6 years, as tax law requires |
11.Switch-off and erasure
Switching off your Pod takes effect immediately. It disappears from discovery and nobody new can open it through its link. It does not delete it, and it does not change the snapshot already sent with past applications.
To delete your account and Pod, request erasure in settings or through the contact form. We remove your active Pod and voice media within 30 calendar days. Where we must keep something, for example invoices, we will tell you what we kept and why.
12.Cookies and local storage
We use only what the service needs to work: a sign-in session cookie and a security cookie. Your theme choice (light or dark) is saved in your browser's local storage under "cvpod-theme". We use no advertising cookies and no third-party analytics trackers. If that ever changes, we will ask first.
13.Your rights
Under UK GDPR you can ask to see a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, take it with you in a portable format, and withdraw consent where we rely on consent (for example, a referee's consent to display a Vouch).
We will respond within one month. Some information may be withheld where the law allows. For example, a reference given in confidence may be exempt from a subject access request.
14.Security
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Storage is private. We grant staff and systems only the access they need. We never record audio, transcripts, identity evidence or private links in our system logs. If a breach affects you, we will tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
15.Contact and complaints
Privacy questions or requests: use the contact form or write to privacy@cvpod.com. If you're unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.