This is Your BBC | Jobs and Careers with the BBC

BBC Careers Site Privacy Notice

Your trust is very important to us. The BBC is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. It is important that you read this notice so that you are aware of how and why we are using such data. This privacy notice describes how we collect and use your personal data on the Careers Site, in accordance with data protection law. 

Successful applicants will be subject to BBC policies and to the BBC’s People Privacy Notice. Where there is inconsistency between those documents and this notice, this notice will apply. 

BBC Careers Site

The BBC’s Careers Site is our recruitment portal, where candidates or potential candidates can apply for available positions across the BBC, including the commercial arm, BBC Studios. Unless otherwise stated, references to the BBC include BBC Studios, and its subsidiaries.

The application process is in two stages: creating a profile on the Careers Site and applying for specific jobs once your profile is set up.

We warmly welcome applications from all backgrounds.

What will BBC collect and how will we use it?

The BBC collects and processes the personal data you provide when you register and/or apply for positions via the Careers Site. This includes your personal data, contact details, education, and career history.

 We use this personal data to:

• Communicate with you and respond to your requests or application
• Carry out recruitment, evaluation, and necessary pre-employment screening including DBS checks 
• Keep you informed of various positions available  

The BBC belongs to everyone and because of that, we have a particular responsibility to represent as many voices and views as possible, reflecting the diversity and communities of the United Kingdom and our locations around the globe. As part of your application, you will also be invited to complete a diversity questionnaire. For information about how we use that personal data, please see the privacy notice attached to the questionnaire.

As part of our recruitment process, the BBC carries out background checks and pre-employment screenings where appropriate. This may include reference checks, right to work, criminal record checks, and character and personal reputation assessments through online and social media checks of publicly available information.

We will use the personal data from these background checks to:

• Assess your suitability, including your skills, strengths and behaviours; and
• Validate the information that you have provided.

Personal data

When you create your career profile, the BBC will collect and process the following personal data:

• Full name and title 
• Home address 
• Email  
• Telephone number 
• Desired salary 
• Career history
• Interests and hobbies 
• Employment references 
• Educational background 
• Skills 
• Job qualifications  

When you apply for a specific job, the BBC will also collect and process the following personal data:

• Jobs for which you have expressed an interest or have applied for
• Information in your CV
• Compensation details, such as salary information
• Information about your competency and suitability

We may also collect and process more sensitive personal data about you, defined as ‘Special Category Personal Data’ under UK data protection law, due to its sensitive nature. This may include:

• Diversity survey responses, including racial or ethnic origin, religion and sex life and sexual orientation data
• Nationality, country of residence, visa and immigration status
• Health data, where you request ‘reasonable adjustments’ to be made

Pre-employment screenings

The BBC will carry out pre-employment screening where required by the role. These may include:

• Employment references – to confirm previous roles and performance.
• Right to work – to verify eligibility to work in the UK or relevant jurisdiction.
• Safeguarding and criminal record checks – such as basic or enhanced DBS or PVG Scheme checks, depending on your location and role, to ensure suitability for work involving children, vulnerable adults, or regulated activities. For all UK roles, successful candidates will be asked to declare any unspent cautions and unspent convictions and undertake a basic DBS check.
• Social media and media screening – review of publicly available information to ensure alignment with BBC values and editorial standards.
• International criminal record checks – where relevant for overseas applicants or experience.
• Senior role checks – including directorship, regulatory, and integrity assessments for leadership positions.
• Qualification and membership verification – to confirm academic and professional credentials.
• Adverse financial checks – where relevant, to identify potential financial risks.

Any job offer is conditional upon these checks being satisfactory, if required.

Where we carry out online and social media screening checks, we may be provided with posts or pictures that you have made public that reveal additional personal data. We use this information to assess alignment with the BBC values and editorial standards.

For more information about our pre-employment screening, please contact bbchr@bbc.co.uk

Who is the Data Controller?

Depending on the role you apply for, either the BBC or BBC Studios (and/or its relevant subsidiary) will be the “data controller” of your personal data. The data controller decides how your personal data is used, and must comply with data protection law. For the avoidance of doubt, your personal data will be collected and processed solely for the purposes set out in this privacy notice.

Lawful basis for processing your personal data

The BBC processes the personal data you provide in your profile and application because it is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. We use this personal data to review your application, assess your suitability for the role, communicate with you about your application or related information request, and administer the recruitment process. 

The BBC also carries out pre-employment screening, including background checks and the declarations of any unspent convictions, where this is in our legitimate interest. This includes verifying the information you provide, assessing your suitability for the role, and protecting the security and integrity of the BBC. The BBC has a legitimate interest to select appropriate candidates whose values align with the BBC’s, including our obligation to adhere to our editorial standards. We will have carefully considered the impact on you and will not process your personal data where your rights override our interests. 

Criminal offence data

We may process criminal offence data in the following circumstances and in accordance with Article 10 UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018: 

1. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks: For all UK roles, successful candidates will be required to undertake a basic DBS check. For certain roles, where permitted by law, we may be required to carry out a DBS check. You will be asked to provide consent to enable us to submit a DBS application on your behalf. Once the check is completed, we will process the outcome of a basic DBS check to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and others who work with us. We will process an enhanced DBS check where it is necessary for safeguarding purposes to protect children and vulnerable adults.
2. Other pre-employment checks involving criminal offence data: Where relevant to the role, we may process personal data about unspent convictions to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and others who work with us.

Our processing of criminal offence data is supported by an Appropriate Policy Document, as required by law.

Special category data

Where we process your special category data, we do so because the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, in accordance with Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018. This may include, for example, processing for equality monitoring or to consider reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.

Successful candidates

If you are successful in your application, we will process your personal data as necessary to enter into and perform your employment contract with the BBC. We will further process your personal data as set out in the BBC People Privacy Notice.

Sharing your personal data

The BBC use approved third-party providers to help us deliver recruitment services. These partners only use your personal data on behalf of the BBC and not independently of the BBC. Our processors can only access personal data to the extent required to provide the BBC with services under contract.

We share your data with third-party providers who carry out pre-employment screenings and right to work checks, and with our platform provider for the Careers Site.

We will not share your personal data with other third parties unless required or permitted by the law.

Your personal data will not be transferred outside of the UK and the EEA, except where the employing BBC entity is itself located outside the EEA. If you apply from outside the UK and EEA, your personal data will be transferred to the UK, which is not considered a restricted transfer. 

Your personal data will be stored in the UK and EEA.

Retaining your personal data

The BBC retains your personal data as follows:

• Profile details on the Careers Site remain for two (2) years and are deleted if the account becomes inactive.
• Successful candidates’ personal data is transferred to their personnel file.
• Background check data is retained for three (3) years and then deleted.

You can delete your Careers Site account at any time here. Log in to your profile, go to Settings, and select Delete Profile.

Automated processing

The BBC does not make recruitment decisions based solely on automated processing.

Your rights and more information

You have rights under data protection law.

• You can request a copy of the personal data BBC stores about you.
• If your personal data is inaccurate, you have the right to have the data rectified. 
• You have the right to ask for the personal data we collect about you to be deleted, however there are limitations and exceptions to this right which may entitle the BBC to refuse your request.
• In certain circumstances, you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data or to object to the processing of your personal data.
• You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal data to you or to another organisation, in certain circumstances.

If you have applied to the BBC, you can contact our Data Protection Officer if you have questions or you wish to find out more details about your rights.

If you have applied to BBC Studios and have any concerns or questions about your rights or this privacy notice, please contact dataprotection@bbc.com.

If you have a concern about the way the BBC has handled your personal data, you can raise your concern with the supervisory authority in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk/.

Applicants in the US

You may have additional rights, including opting out of the transfer of personal data to third parties for valuable consideration or cross-contextual behavioural advertising purposes. BBC Studios does not sell or share your personal data other than as described in Sharing your personal data above.

To request access or to correct or delete your personal data you may additionally contact us through either of the following methods:

• via email at human.resources.americas@bbc.com; or
• via phone at (212) 339-1713.

Updating this privacy notice

We will revise the privacy notice if there are significant changes to how we use your personal data.