Privacy Policy

The Vocation Station – Privacy Policy 

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of this Policy

The Vocation Station (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a recruitment and background-checking agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).

This Policy explains what personal information we collect through https://thevocationstation.co.za (the “Site”) and through our recruitment services, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and what rights you have. It applies to the Site and our recruitment activities, and not to other websites linked from the Site, which have their own practices.

1.2 Who this Policy applies to

• Visitors to the Site
• Candidates and job seekers who register with us or apply for roles
• Clients (employers) who use our recruitment or background-check services
• Referees and other people whose details are given to us in the course of our work

Our Site and services are intended for people aged 18 and over.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you give us directly

• Contact enquiries: your name, email address and message when you use our contact page.
• Blog comments: your name and any other details you choose to share.
• Candidates: your CV and the details in it (contact details, work history, qualifications, skills, salary expectations, references), identity or passport details where needed for verification, and any information you share during interviews or assessments.
• Clients: company and contact-person details, vacancy information and hiring requirements.

You don’t have to give us information just to browse the Site. If you’re a candidate, however, we need certain information to represent you and find you suitable work.

2.2 Information we collect automatically

Our servers automatically recognise visitors’ domain names and IP addresses. We may also gather anonymous traffic data that doesn’t personally identify you, which helps us understand how the Site is used and improve our services.

2.3 Information from other sources

With your consent, we may collect information from your referees, previous employers, educational institutions, credit bureaus and criminal-record verification providers. We may also receive your details from job boards or professional networks where you’ve made them public or applied for one of our vacancies.

2.4 Special personal information

Some of our services involve “special personal information” under POPIA, such as criminal behaviour or criminal-record information and biometric information. We only collect and process this with your explicit consent, or where the law allows, and only where it’s needed for a specific purpose such as a background check requested for a particular role. Biometric information is handled by our registered Biometrics Officer. Please don’t send us special personal information (for example, health or religious information) unless it’s relevant to your application and you’re comfortable sharing it.

3. How and why we use your information

We use personal information only for specific, lawful purposes, including:

• to represent you and match you with suitable employment opportunities;
• to present your profile to prospective employers, but only after we have your permission for that specific introduction;
• to confirm the references you’ve provided;
• to carry out education, credit, criminal-record and identity checks, with your consent;
• to provide recruitment and screening services to our clients;
• to respond to your enquiries and manage our relationship with you;
• to keep the Site secure, diagnose server problems and improve our services;
• to meet our legal and regulatory obligations; and
• to send you relevant job alerts or updates, where you’ve agreed (see section 11).

We only collect information that is needed for these purposes, and we make sure it is relevant, accurate and kept up to date.

4. Consent

Where we rely on your consent, it will be voluntary, specific and informed. By registering with us or submitting your CV, you consent to the activities set out in the Candidate Consent below. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us, via info@thevocationstation.co.za. Withdrawing consent won’t affect processing already done lawfully, but it may mean we can no longer represent you or carry out certain checks.

Candidate Consent

By registering with or submitting your details to The Vocation Station, I consent to The Vocation Station doing the following so that it can carry out its mandate on my behalf:

1. representing me in seeking employment;
2. confirming the references I have provided;
3. performing education, credit and criminal-record checks on me;
4. retaining my records for a period of 5 years [or as set out in section 8].

I understand that The Vocation Station is a recruitment agency and will not send my personal information to a prospective employer without my prior permission.

5. Sharing your information

We don’t sell your personal information. We share it only as follows:

• Prospective employers: with your permission, we’ll send your profile to employers for roles you’ve agreed to be considered for.
• Service providers (“operators”): companies that help us run our business, such as web hosting, email and mailing tools, cloud storage, assessment platforms, and verification providers for criminal, credit, education and identity checks. They may only process your information on our instructions, under written agreements that require them to keep it secure and confidential.
• Legal and safety reasons: we may disclose information if required by law or legal process, or in the good-faith belief that it’s necessary to protect our rights, property or safety, or the safety of the public or users of the Site.
• Business changes: if we sell or buy part of our business, or if the business or substantially all its assets are acquired, personal information may be transferred to the new owner, who must continue to protect it under this Policy and POPIA.
• Anonymous information: aggregated, anonymous traffic and transaction information may be shared with business partners and advertisers. It doesn’t identify you.

6. Transfers outside South Africa

Some of our service providers (for example, email, cloud storage or analytics tools) may store or process information on servers outside South Africa. Where this happens, we’ll only transfer your information if the recipient is subject to laws or agreements providing a similar level of protection to POPIA, or if you’ve consented to the transfer.

7. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access and alteration. These include [access controls, password protection, encryption, secure storage and confidentiality agreements – adjust to match your practice].

No system is completely secure, and we can’t guarantee absolute security. If there are reasonable grounds to believe your personal information has been accessed or acquired without authorisation, we’ll notify the Information Regulator and you, as POPIA requires.

8. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or as the law requires.

• Candidate records: retained for 5 years, unless you ask us to delete them sooner or the law requires otherwise.
• Site enquiries: retained for twelve (12) months after we’ve dealt with them.
• Client and billing records: retained for the periods required by tax and company law.

When information is no longer needed, we’ll securely delete, destroy or de-identify it.

9. Cookies

From time to time, we may use cookies, which are small pieces of data stored on your device about your visit. They help us understand which parts of the Site are useful and which need improvement, using tools such as Google Analytics. We may also use cookies from third-party social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but some features of the Site may not work as intended if you do. Promotions or advertisements on the Site may also contain cookies, and we don’t have access to or control over information collected by outside advertisers.

If we accept sponsorship or advertising on the Site, sponsors and advertisers may see impressions and click data for their own marketing pieces. We will never reveal your personally identifiable information to them.

11. Direct marketing

We’ll only send you electronic marketing, such as job alerts or newsletters, if you’ve opted in or are an existing client or candidate and the message relates to similar services. Every message will include a simple way to opt out, and you can unsubscribe at any time by contacting us.

12. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to:

• ask us whether we hold personal information about you, and request access to it;
• ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date;
• ask us to delete or destroy information we’re no longer entitled to keep;
• object to the processing of your information, including for direct marketing;
• withdraw your consent at any time;
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (see section 14).

Your personal information won’t be released to anyone else without your consent, except where the law allows or requires it. To exercise any of these rights, contact us on info@thevocationstation.co.za.  We may need to verify your identity first, and we’ll respond within a reasonable time.

13. Third-party websites

The Site may contain links to other websites. Our privacy practices and terms don’t extend to those sites. Please review their privacy policies before sharing your information with them.

14. Complaints

If you have a concern, please contact us on info@thevocationstation.co.za first so we can try to resolve it. If you’re not satisfied, you have the right to complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

• Website: https://inforegulator.org.za
• Complaints: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za
• General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

(Please double-check these contact details on the Regulator’s website before publishing.)

15. Contact us

For questions about this Policy or how we handle your information, contact us via info@thevocationstation.co.za.

16. Updates and changes

We may update this Policy from time to time and will post changes in a conspicuous place on the Site. Changes take effect 30 days after posting. If you’ve signed up for email communications from us, we’ll also notify you of changes by email. Please review this Policy periodically to make sure you’re still comfortable with it.