Privacy Policy

1. Overview & Scope

This policy applies to:

• Candidates whose information is submitted to Squad by a recruiter, or who apply directly

• Recruiters and other users of Squad’s platform

• Visitors to our website

If you are located outside the United States, see Section 9 for information about international data transfers.

If a recruiter submits you to Squad, our Candidate Privacy Notice explains in more detail how we handle your information.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

• Candidate information: name, email address, phone number, resume/CV, LinkedIn profile, professional and employment history, location, salary expectations, work authorization if you share it, notes from your recruiter’s screening call, and other information submitted by you or by the recruiter who refers you. We may also obtain information from public professional profiles and from the identity and fraud-prevention services described in Section 3.

• Recruiter information: name, email address, phone number, and account details for recruiters using Squad’s platform.

• Recordings: audio, video, and transcripts of screening calls or interviews, either shared with Squad by your recruiter with your agreement or recorded by Squad on video calls (such as Zoom) with your agreement, processed via Fathom or a similar third-party service (see Section 5). We tell you at the start of any call Squad records, and you can ask us not to record.

• Verification information: to confirm the authenticity of a candidate’s identity and application, Squad may process a candidate’s name, email address, phone number, and LinkedIn profile through a third-party fraud-prevention service (see Section 3), and keeps the results of those checks.

• Usage data: IP address, browser type, device information, and access times when you use our website.

• Other information: anything else you choose to share with us.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to inquiries and requests

• Provide, operate, and improve the Services

• Communicate with candidates about applications, interviews, or opportunities

• Match candidates to the role they were submitted for and to other open roles; we won’t send your profile to another company without your agreement

• Record, store, and share recordings with hiring companies for evaluation, where you agreed (Section 5)

• Verify that a candidate’s identity and application are authentic

• Use automated tools to help review candidates, as described in Section 4

• Analyze website usage and trends

• Maintain the security and integrity of our platform

• Comply with legal obligations

Authenticity and fraud verification. When a candidate is submitted to Squad, Squad runs an identity and authenticity check using a third-party service, Tofu (hiretofu.com). This check reviews a candidate’s name, email address, phone number, and LinkedIn profile against publicly available professional information and other fraud-prevention data sources to confirm they are consistent and to detect impersonation or fraudulent applications. Squad introduced this check in response to a rise in fraudulent candidate submissions across the recruiting industry.

Legal basis for this processing:

Purpose: Running the identity/authenticity check. Basis: Our legitimate interest in preventing fraud on the platform.

Purpose: Sharing a flagged result with a human reviewer at Squad before any decision is made. Basis: Same as above.

Purpose: Matching candidates to roles, including other open roles. Basis: Our legitimate interest in connecting candidates with suitable roles, and steps taken at your request before you’re hired.

Purpose: Retaining verification results (see Section 6). Basis: Our legitimate interest in maintaining accurate records and handling reviews and disputes.

Purpose: Sharing recordings with hiring companies. Basis: Your agreement, given to your recruiter or to Squad before the recording.

This reflects how Squad approaches the different purposes above.

4. Automated Tools and Human Review

We use automated tools, including AI, throughout our process. They match candidates to open roles, compare your experience, skills, and education with a role’s requirements, check your identity and contact details with fraud-prevention services, and route your profile to the right member of our team. Our reviewers make the decisions: the tools aren’t given more weight than our reviewers, they can’t override them, and a person reviews before we decide whether to share your profile with a hiring company or not to move you forward.

The authenticity check described in Section 3 may flag an application for further review. A flag is never treated as a final decision:

• A person at Squad reviews every flag before any decision is made about a candidate’s submission.

• No candidate is rejected, and no submission is withheld from a client, solely on the basis of an automated result.

• If a check raises a question, we’ll ask you to confirm your identity, by email or through your recruiter. We don’t use facial recognition or voice analysis.

• We don’t screen candidates based on age or any other characteristic protected by law, and we don’t act on a request from a hiring company to do so.

If your application is affected by this process, or you’d prefer we not use our automated tools, you may contact us at privacy@squadtalent.xyz to ask about the flag or request a review. We can confirm your identity through a short call with our team instead, and have a person review your profile without our AI assessment. If we weren’t able to confirm your identity and you think that’s wrong, a different member of our team will review it within 5 business days.

5. How We Share Your Information

We may share information with:

• Employers and hiring companies: for roles you’ve agreed to, your resume, work history, contact details, and (with consent) interview recordings or summaries, solely for recruitment and hiring purposes.

• The recruiter who submitted you: updates on your application.

• Service providers, by category:

  • Interview recording & transcription: Fathom

  • Identity & fraud verification: Tofu (hiretofu.com), and the data providers it uses

  • Communications: messaging tools such as Slack

  • Hosting and email: cloud hosting and email providers

• Legal requirements: if required by law, regulation, or legal process.

• Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

• With your consent: as directed by you.

Our service providers, including Fathom and Tofu, are contractually bound to protect your information and to process it only as we direct, consistent with this policy.

We don’t share the results of identity or fraud checks with employers, hiring companies, or recruiters.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes in this policy, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We decide how long to keep information based on these criteria:

• Candidate profiles: while you’re active with Squad, and for as long as you may reasonably be a fit for open or future roles. We regularly review inactive profiles and delete or anonymize those we no longer need, or sooner if you ask.

• Recordings: as long as needed for the hiring process for that role and to answer any questions about it.

• Identity/authenticity verification results: as long as needed to complete verification and handle any review or dispute about it.

• Placements and recruiter records: as long as needed for our agreements with hiring companies and recruiters, and to meet tax, accounting, and legal obligations.

• Records of permissions and decisions: as long as needed to show how we handled your information and to resolve any question or dispute about it.

We may keep information longer if the law requires it, or to establish or defend a legal claim. When no longer needed, information is securely deleted or anonymized.

7. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access, correct, or delete your personal information, including interview recordings and verification records

• Object to or restrict certain processing

• Ask a person to review a decision made with automated tools, or ask us not to use our automated tools for you (Section 4)

• Withdraw consent, where consent is the basis for processing (this does not affect processing already completed)

• Request information about how your data has been processed and shared

• Opt out of marketing communications

When you ask us to delete your information, we’ll also instruct our service providers to delete it, and ask the recruiter who submitted you to delete what we sent them; some service providers may keep limited information where the law allows, such as to prevent fraud. You can use an authorized agent where the law allows. We won’t treat you differently for using your rights.

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@squadtalent.xyz.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information, including encryption of sensitive data, role-based access controls, and secure storage and transmission. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. International Data Transfers

If you access our Services from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States and other countries, which may have data protection laws different from those in your jurisdiction. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum, for these transfers.

If you’re in the EU or UK, Squad is the controller of your information and relies on its legitimate interests in matching candidates with roles and preventing hiring fraud, and on steps taken at your request before you’re hired. You can object at any time. You can also complain to your local data protection authority. [EU/UK representative, if appointed: name and contact.]

10. Children’s Privacy

Our Services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly. Contact us if you believe a child has provided us with personal information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by posting the updated policy here and revising the effective date above.

12. Contact Us

Volar Labs, Inc.

privacy@squadtalent.xyz

19 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10010

13. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We may use cookies and similar technologies to analyze site traffic and usage, and to improve your experience on our website. You can control cookies through your browser settings. If you have questions about the cookies we use, contact us at privacy@squadtalent.xyz.

14. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please review their policies before providing information to them.

https://www.gosquad.ai/privacy