Privacy Policy

Please click below to go to either Police or Police Staff Recruitment Privacy Policy

POLICE RECRUITMENT

www.joinpsni.co.uk / Deloitte MCS Limited PRIVACY STATEMENT

Introduction

Deloitte MCS Limited is the contracted agency charged with managing police officer recruitment on behalf of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Deloitte MCS Limited operates this website www.joinpsni.co.uk.

This privacy statement applies to Deloitte MCS Limited, which jointly controls and makes use of visitor information collected via this website and which jointly controls and makes use of information collected from people who apply to the PSNI.

If you as a visitor choose to register or submit information to this Website, (in particular if you apply to join the PSNI using the application and equality monitoring form or if you provide information in other forms of correspondence, including by email or submission of formal evidence via the dedicated online evidence uploader) you agree to the use of such data in accordance with this privacy statement. Please note that this site contains links to other sites, including sites maintained by other organisations, which may not be governed by this privacy statement.

Why are you processing my personal information?

As a visitor to this website, you do not have to submit any personal information in order to read the information it contains. The site collects only personally identifiable information that is specifically and voluntarily provided by visitors. In particular, people who wish to apply to join the PSNI as part of a live recruitment campaign will be required to supply personally identifiable information.

In addition, people who choose to contact us using email or other forms of correspondence will be required to supply personally identifiable information.

Where Deloitte MCS Limited has a legal basis to process information, consent will not be sought and will not be the basis relied upon to process that information. Where Deloitte MCS Limited relies solely on consent to process personal data, individuals should be aware that they have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.

Deloitte MCS Limited collects personal data provided by applicants applying for the role of police constable via a hosted online application interface www.joinpsni.co.uk. The ‘application data’ is used to contact applicants in relation to their application and to schedule them for Initial Selection Test (IST) and (if they progress) Assessment Centre selection stages. It is also used to assess that applicants meet some basic role eligibility criteria, such as age, nationality and educational requirements. Where applicable, in the case that an applicant declares an adjustment need pertaining to a disability, the applicant’s data is used to consider the appropriate adjustment necessary to allow the applicant to attend and participate at IST stage/Assessment Centre stage.

We handle personal information in order to comply with our legal obligation and other employment and statutory equality legislation. The processing of personal information is necessary for the performance of public task or in the exercise of official authority.

The overall purpose for the processing and control of this data is to conduct of recruitment assessment of PSNI applicants and associated queries and ultimately to facilitate the recruitment of police constables.

Where do you get my personal information from?

To ensure that our website is well managed and to facilitate improved navigation within the site, we or our service provider(s) may use cookies (small text files stored in a user’s browser) or Web beacons (electronic images that allow the Web site to count visitors who have accessed a particular page and to access certain cookies) to collect aggregate data. We may use such devices to track information on our systems and identify categories of visitors by items such as IP address, domain, browser type and pages visited. IP addresses will be retained while a campaign is active and during processing time. IP addresses, along with other personally identifiable data will be deleted after processing is completed. This information is reported to our Webmasters who use the information to analyse the number of visitors to different areas of the site and to make sure that our website is serving as a useful, effective information source. Neither cookies nor Web beacons collect personal information.

Specifically, we use Google Analytics as a valuable tool to gain a deeper understanding of our online audience, optimise website performance, and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement. More information on how Google Analytics works is available via Google Analytics Policies.

We obtain personal information directly from the application form that is completed as part of police constable recruitment, as well as if you contact the Deloitte Recruitment Team directly with a query you might have.

What types of Personal Data do we handle?

Deloitte MCS Limited process both personal information and special category information relating to or consisting of the following:

Application form data (Personal Detail such as e.g. title, full name, name known as, address and postcode, date and place of birth, national insurance number, email address, telephone numbers, nationality, reasonable adjustment needs pertaining to any condition or disability and where applicable relevant evidence (such as medical and/or diagnostic evidence), details of educational attainment)
Equality monitoring data (e.g. National Insurance number, domestic status, gender, date of birth, sexual orientation, political opinion, dependents, ethnic origin, nationality / immigration status, community background, school attendance, disability, qualifications, employment status, geographic origin by LRG / DEA)
Correspondence with candidates (i.e. email correspondence via info@joinpsni.co.uk and scheduling@joinpsni.co.uk, or other authorised Deloitte managed email accounts and telephone queries/ written correspondence which can include sensitive personal data if furnished by applicant)
Formal evidence pertaining to an individual's educational attainment, as uploaded via a dedicated online Evidence Uploader (including qualification certificates, final certifying statements of results, statements from UK ENIC, statements from verifiable official educational sponsors etc. and supporting evidence such as marriage certificates, civil partnership certificates and deed poll documentation)
Feedback and opinion details relating to attendance (and non-attendance) at recruitment stages.

This information may be held in both electronic and in hard copy form. The storage medium will vary depending on the category of information and the stage of the recruitment process (e.g. the majority of the processing of data is conducted electronically, however during the Assessment Centre stage paper records pertaining to individuals are generated). Electronic records include information stored on a computer, whilst hard copy records include paper records, i.e. in a file.

Whose personal data do we handle and where do we obtain it from?

Deloitte MCS Limited may process personal data relating to a wide variety of individuals (data subject), this data can come from a wide variety of sources such as:

Members of general public making enquiries about PSNI recruitment
Applicants to PSNI
Applicants to PSNI who subsequently withdraw or do not successfully complete all stages of the recruitment process
Users of the website www.joinpsni.co.uk (data temporarily held online during live application stage, before being deleted once transferred to secure Deloitte environment)
Independent sub-contractors working with Deloitte to deliver the service (including Independent Lay Assessors)

Do you share my personal information with anyone else?

To facilitate the application process and to collect information from applicants to the PSNI, PSNI uses trusted service providers to handle your information on our behalf, and to assist with online application information collection. Additionally, we offer an address lookup service to allow applicants to search for their address details within our online application forms. All suppliers will treat your personal data in a secure manner. These suppliers transmit your personal data to us using secure encrypted email and do not store your details long-term or use them for any purpose.

Where applicable, in the case that an applicant declares an adjustment need pertaining to a condition or disability, the applicant’s personal and sensitive data may be shared with trusted independent professionals qualified to make assessments of adjustment needs requests. These independent professionals will be security cleared to an appropriate level and all data is transmitted in a secure manner either by secure email or via secure approved courier.

Deloitte MCS Limited acts as an independent recruitment agent on behalf of the PSNI to manage recruitment campaigns to the PSNI. As such Deloitte MCS Limited has to share your data with PSNI in reference to your application if you are to progress through the recruitment process. Specifically we supply PSNI with the details of the candidates who pass the Assessment Centre stage of the recruitment process, so that they may progress through the PSNI managed recruitment stages. In the case that you make contact with Deloitte MCS Limited, (e.g. via an @joinpsni.co.uk or @deloitte.co.uk branded email address) on a subject matter outside of Deloitte MCS Limited's remit (but within PSNI's remit), Deloitte will forward your email enquiry to the appropriate department within PSNI for their consideration and (if applicable) action. You can access more information with regards to the PSNI’s Privacy Notice through the following link, PSNI Privacy Notice. We transmit all such data to PSNI in a secure manner.

Where appropriate, personal data may be disclosed to law enforcement, regulatory or other government agencies, or third parties where necessary or desirable to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.

Do you transfer my personal information outside of the European Union?

Personal data transfers from the UK to the EU will be unaffected. Secondary legislation has been passed which means that if data can be transferred prior to the end of the transition period, it will still be possible to do via The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/419/contents/made

We will not routinely transfer personal information outside of the European Union for processing. In the case that an applicant or potential applicant instigates an application / contact with us from outside of the European Union, we will engage in communication directly with said person to facilitate their application and to deal with any queries they may have. Our standard privacy policy will apply in such cases.

How long do you keep my personal information?

We will keep your personal information only for as long as is required for the lawful purpose(s) for which it was obtained and in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedules.

How we keep your personal data secure

The information you supply to Deloitte MCS Limited is handled by professional staff, who are security vetted and who respect the sensitivity of your personal information.

All records are held electronically and will only be made available to those who have a right to see them. We use technical and organisational measures such as:

Regular, up to date data protection training for our staff
Regular testing of our technology
Regular quality/compliance checks in line with standard quality management processes and quality assurance reviews
Restricted access controls
Physical security measures

What rights do I have?

If you are someone whose personal data is held by us as data controller, you have rights under data protection law.

You have the right, in some circumstances, to make the following requests of a data controller in relation to personal data held about you:

To have access to that data
To amend any incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information
To object to the data being processed
To restrict the processing of that data
To erase that data
To find out about any automated decision making and profiling
To enable data portability

To make a request to access any personal information we may hold about you regarding the Deloitte Managed Stages of Police Officer recruitment you should put the request in writing and email it to: info@joinpsni.co.uk.

For information about how PSNI handles personal information more widely, including enacting rights under Data Protection legislation, the PSNI Retention and Disposal Schedule and how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office please access the ‘information about yourself’ on the PSNI website at the following link: https://www.psni.police.uk/advice_information/information-about-yourself/.

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you are unhappy with how any aspect of this privacy notice, or how personal information is being processed, please contact info@joinpsni.co.uk for further information in the first instance.

Deloitte MCS Limited has a designated Data Protection Officer (DPO). The DPO is an independent advisor to Deloitte MCS Limited and is responsible for ensuring Deloitte MCS Limited is processing personal data in line with relevant legislation. Any individual with concerns over the way Deloitte MCS Limited handles their personal data may contact the Data Protection Officer at the address below or by email via DPO@deloitte.co.uk.

Data Protection Officer

Deloitte LLP

1 New Street Square

London

EC4A 3HQ

If you remain unhappy about how your request has been handled you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner is the independent regulator responsible for enforcing the legislation and can provide useful information about the legislation’s requirements. Our local Information Commissioner’s address is:

Information Commissioner’s Office

3rd Floor

14 Cromac Place

Belfast, BT7 2JB

Email: ni@ico.org.uk

Tel: 028 9027 8757

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Deloitte MCS Limited reserves the right to modify or amend this privacy statement at any time and for any reason. (Please see COVID-19 related addendum to Police Officer Privacy Policy here). Nothing contained within the privacy policy creates or is intended to create a contract or agreement between Deloitte MCS Limited and any user visiting the website or anyone who applies to join the PSNI.

This privacy notice was last updated in March 2024.

POLICE STAFF RECRUITMENT

Introduction

For the purposes of Police Staff Recruitment, Deloitte MCS Limited shall be regarded as processor due to hosting of the website, www.joinpsni.co.uk. The Police Service of Northern Ireland will be regarded as Controller.

This privacy statement applies to PSNI Police Staff Recruitment, which controls and makes use of visitor information collected via this website and which controls and makes use of information collected from people who apply to the PSNI Police Staff Recruitment.

If you as a visitor choose to register or submit information to this website, (in particular if you apply to join the PSNI as Police Staff using the application and equality & monitoring form or if you provide information in other forms of correspondence, including by email) you agree to the use of such data in accordance with this privacy statement.

Please note that this site contains links to other sites, including sites maintained by other organisations, which may not be governed by this privacy statement.

Why are you processing my personal information?

As a visitor to this website, you do not have to submit any personal information in order to read the information it contains. The site collects only personally identifiable information that is specifically and voluntarily provided by visitors. In particular, people who wish to apply to join the PSNI as police staff as part of a live recruitment process will be required to supply personally identifiable information.

In addition, people who choose to contact us using email or other forms of correspondence will be required to supply personally identifiable information.

Where PSNI has a legal basis to process information, consent will not be sought and will not be the basis relied upon to process that information. Where PSNI relies solely on consent to process personal data, individuals should be aware that they have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.

PSNI collects personal data provided by applicants applying for police staff roles via a hosted online application interface www.joinpsni.co.uk. The ‘application data’ is used to contact applicants in relation to their application and to assess that applicants meet some basic role eligibility criteria, such as age, nationality and educational/qualification requirements and enable shortlisting. If they progress to assessment stage ‘application data’ will be used to schedule them for the required assessment such as selection test, interview/ presentation. If successful and within the appointable band the ‘application data’ will be used to contact candidates to complete the following pre-employment checks in order to be considered for appointment - Vetting, Medical, Substances Misuse Test and Online Learning. Where applicable, in the case that an applicant declares on the application form any reasonable adjustment needs which they may have, the applicant’s data is used to consider the appropriate adjustment necessary to enable the applicant/candidate to participate fully in the Police Staff Recruitment Process.

The overall purpose for the processing and control of this data is to conduct of recruitment of PSNI Police Staff applicants/candidates and associated queries and ultimately to facilitate the recruitment of police staff to the PSNI.

Where do you get my personal information from?

To ensure that our website is well managed and to facilitate improved navigation within the site, we or our service provider(s) may use cookies (small text files stored in a user’s browser) or Web beacons (electronic images that allow the Web site to count visitors who have accessed a particular page and to access certain cookies) to collect aggregate data. We may use such devices to track information on our systems and identify categories of visitors by items such as IP address, domain, browser type and pages visited. IP addresses will be retained while a recruitment competition is active and during processing time. IP addresses, along with other personally identifiable data will be deleted after processing is completed. This information is reported to our Webmasters who use the information to analyse the number of visitors to different areas of the site and to make sure that our website is serving as a useful, effective information source. Neither cookies nor Web beacons collect personal information.

We obtain personal information directly from the application form that is completed as part of police staff recruitment, as well as if you contact the PSNI Staff Recruitment Team directly with a query you might have.

What types of Personal Data do we handle?

PSNI process both personal information and special category information relating to or consisting of the following:

Application form data (Personal Details such as title, full name, preferred name, address and postcode, date and place of birth, national insurance number, email address, contact numbers, nationality, reasonable adjustment needs pertaining to any condition or disability and where applicable relevant evidence (such as medical and/or diagnostic evidence), details of educational and professional attainment), current and previous employment and skills/experience.
Equality monitoring data (e.g. National Insurance number, domestic status, gender, date of birth, sexual orientation, political opinion, dependants, ethnic origin, nationality, community background, school history, disability, qualifications and employment status).
Correspondence with candidates (i.e. email correspondence via authorised PSNI managed email accounts such as PoliceStaffRecruitment@psni.police.uk and telephone queries/ written correspondence which can include sensitive personal data if furnished by applicant).
Formal evidence pertaining to an individual's educational or professional attainment (including qualification certificates, final certifying statements of results, statements from UK NARIC, statements from verifiable official educational sponsors, membership of professional bodies etc. and supporting evidence such as marriage certificates and deed poll documentation).

This information may be held in both electronic and in hard copy form. The storage medium will vary depending on the category of information and the stage of the recruitment process. (e.g. the majority of the processing of data is conducted electronically, however during the shortlisting, and assessment stages paper records pertaining to individuals are generated). Electronic records include information stored on a computer, whilst hard copy records include paper records, i.e. in a file.

Whose personal data do we handle and where do we obtain it from?

PSNI may process personal data relating to a wide variety of individuals (data subject), this data can come from a wide variety of sources such as:

Members of general public making enquiries about PSNI police staff recruitment
Applicants to PSNI police staff recruitment
Applicants to PSNI police staff recruitment who subsequently withdraw or do not successfully complete all stages of the recruitment process
Users of the website www.joinpsni.co.uk (data temporarily held online during live application stage, before being deleted once transferred to secure PSNI environment).
Independent sub-contractors working with PSNI to deliver the service

Do you share my personal information with anyone else?

On occasion, we may outsource a contract for recruitment services, which will result in personal data in relation to recruitment applications being collated by a third party service provider. Any personal data collected via this means will be transferred into the custody of the PSNI on completion of the recruitment competition. These records will be retained in accordance with PSNI review, retention and disposal schedule requirements. In the case that you make contact with Deloitte MCS Limited, (e.g. via an @joinpsni.co.uk or @deloitte.co.uk branded email address) on a subject matter outside of Deloitte MCS Limited's remit (but within PSNI's remit), Deloitte will forward your email enquiry to the appropriate department within PSNI for their consideration and (if applicable) action. In the first instance, all queries should be sent to PoliceStaffRecruitment@psni.police.uk with regards to external Police Staff Recruitment. You can access more information with regards to the PSNI’s Privacy Notice through the following link, PSNI Privacy Notice. We transmit all such information to PSNI in a secure manner.

Do you transfer my personal information outside of the European Union?

How long do you keep my personal information?

We will keep your personal information only for as long as is required for the lawful purpose(s) for which it was obtained and in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedules.

How we keep your personal data secure

The information you supply to PSNI is handled by professional staff, who are security vetted and who respect the sensitivity of your personal information. All records, whether held electronically or hard copy will only be made available to those who have a right to see them, including website hosts.

We use technical and organisational measures such as:

Regular, up to date data protection training for our staff
Regular testing of our technology
Regular quality/compliance checks in line with standard quality management processes and quality assurance reviews
Restricted access controls
Physical security measures

PSNI takes the security of all personal information under our control very seriously; we have a number of policies in place that provide detailed procedures on specific information security controls, countermeasures and practices that must be adhered to. We will comply with the relevant parts of the legislation relating to security. We will ensure that appropriate policy, training, technical and procedural measures are in place, including audit and inspection, to protect our manual and electronic information systems from data loss and misuse, and only permit access to them when there is a legitimate reason to do so, and then under strict guidelines as to what use may be made of any personal data contained within them. These procedures are continuously managed and enhanced to ensure up-to-date security.

What rights do I have?

If you are someone whose personal data is held by us as data controller you have rights under data protection law.

You have the right, in some circumstances, to make the following requests of a data controller in relation to personal data held about you:

To have access to that data
To amend any incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information
To object to the data being processed
To restrict the processing of that data
To erase that data
To find out about any automated decision making and profiling
To enable data portability

Police Staff Recruitment:

https://www.psni.police.uk/advice_information/information-about-yourself/

Further details on all of the rights within data protection legislation can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.ico.org.uk.

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you would like to exercise any of the rights discussed in this document, you can do so by contacting the following department:

Corporate Information

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Police Headquarters

65 Knock Road

Belfast

BT6 5LE

Telephone: 028 9070 0164

Email: DataProtection@psni.police.uk

The PSNI has a designated Data Protection Officer (DPO). The DPO is an independent advisor to the PSNI and is responsible for ensuring that PSNI are processing personal data in line with the legislation. Any individual with concerns over the way PSNI handles their personal data may contact our Data Protection Officer at the address above or by email via DataProtectionOfficer@psni.police.uk.

If you remain unhappy about how your request has been handled you have the right to apply directly to the information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner is the independent regulator responsible for enforcing the legislation and can provide useful information about the legislation’s requirements. Our local Information Commissioner’s address is: