Within the Consent Module, there are four tabs available: Data Consent, Preferences, System Checks and Emails. This article will look at the Data Consent tab specifically, including how to configure and activate the module.
Data Consent Details
When you navigate to Admin > Consent > Candidates from the Menu, you will have access to the Data Consent tab and the Consent Dashboard. From here, you can see the current configuration of the tool, as well as the current state of your database with regard to included, excluded and expired candidates.
The warning at the top of the page will be Red if the tool is currently inactive, or green if active. When first configuring the consent module, DO NOT click Activate Data Consent until the entire tool is set up, including the exclusions, preferences and system checks,(if being used).
Click Edit within the Data Consent Details to begin configuring how long data will be stored, how expired candidates will be managed and how to present the module on your registration page:
Name - This will become a title / header on the registration page of your candidate portal, as well as within the consent module in the candidate profile.
Description - This text will be visible as part of registration and within the candidate profile, so is your opportunity to explain to candidates how and why you will store their data, as well as link to any relevant privacy polices. If you add a URL or webpage to this text, it will automatically hyperlink when on the candidate portal.
Excluded Description - If a candidate falls within one of your exclusions, they will be unable to withdraw their data. This box allows you to outline why they cannot withdraw their data and include contact info so you can direct them to discuss this with the relevant team.
Declined Description - If a candidate declines to provide consent and ultimately attempts to withdraw their data, this description will show. This is an opportunity to explain to the candidate what happens next, for example, being logged out of the portal and how the data will be removed within 30 days.
Duration - When a candidate provides consent, this will be the number of months that the data will be stored.
Consent Auto Reject Period - This setting is the number of days before the consent expiry date that the tool will begin contacting the candidate to re-consent.
Consent Expiry Settings
These settings relate to how expired candidates are managed and the automation available.
The Expiry (what to do) field a gives three options:
Set Candidate Status - This is the default and manual option. When a candidate withdraws their consent, the tool will change the candidate Status to Consent Expired. Candidates will then remain at this stage for review and once you have confirmed you are happy to cleanse the data, can chose to Send for Anonymisation or Deletion.
Anonymise - This setting will automatically set Send for Anonymisation, as soon as the candidate expires. This means that there is no manual check required to trigger the anonymisation process and completely automates it. Anonymising the record will remove all of the identifiable information, but maintain any activity or related records for reporting purposes. This includes any free text fields against the record, as well as any associated files, supporting documents and correspondence. Via anonymisation, you can ensure that you comply with any data regulations but protect the integrity and reporting value of any data. The risk here is that if you have not configured your consent module and exclusions correctly, data that you intended to keep could be lost. Unless agreed otherwise, this will be the default option set when your system is implemented.
Delete - As with Anonymise, this setting will automate the process and remove the need for the manual check. However, Delete will remove every trace of the record, including any associated records (such as Applications, Actions and Hires), which can impact on reporting.
Finally, the Run on this day of the month field allows you to specify which day of the month you'd like your records to anonymise/delete.
🤓 Tip - As many months of the year have different numbers of days, you might want to set this to occur sooner in the month rather than later, to avoid Candidate data being kept longer than is necessary.
Email Settings
This section then allows you to select the email templates used when contacting candidates that are due to expire, but also set the frequency of reminders. Set the Initial Email Template, the Reminder Email Template and the Reminder Email Interval, before clicking Save to confirm your settings.
Exclusions
Whilst you want to give candidates the right to withdraw their data, there will be certain records in your database who either don't need to provide consent or you have the right to keep their data, beyond the standard term outlined in your retention policy. For those records, we use Exclusions to prevent them from withdrawing without your knowledge, allowing you to protect the integrity of your data.
⚠️ Important: Eploy are not able to recommend or advise on what your exclusions should be - they should be driven by your Data Privacy & Retention policies.
Accessing Exclusions
To see and manage your existing exclusions, or add new ones, navigate to Admin > Consent > Candidates. Here you will find any exclusions that are currently in place, including a breakdown of how many records have currently been excluded by that specific exclusion.
To edit an exclusion, click its name. To remove it, click the X. To create a new one, click Add.
Creating an Exclusion
Having clicked Add within the Exclusions section, start by giving the exclusion a Title and a description:
Title - This is the name of the exclusion and will show to core system users against any excluded candidates.
Description - This is not mandatory, but is a great opportunity for you to justify why you are excluding these candidates from being able to consent / withdraw. You could also reference your retention policy here, just in case you ever have an audit!
Once populated, click Edit Filter to begin identifying the records you wish to exclude.
🤓 Tip - The filter here uses the candidate advanced filter, which you may be familiar with if you have created metrics for your dashboards. You can use Add Field to search for specific fields to filter on, as well as create field groups or look for associated activity.
Create the filer as required, using the Candidates Matched to keep an eye on how many records are going to be excluded. Once complete, click Apply which will return you to exclusion, which can then be saved to confirm.
🤓Tip - If you are excluding different candidates for different reasons (i.e you may want to exclude all currently placed, plus those that have been submitted by a vendor), you should use separate exclusions to do this. You can add as many different exclusions as you need, so best practise is to keep your filters simple and focus on excluding records for different reasons separately!