GDPR & Cookies Policy

Open Career takes privacy and data protection seriously. In this section, we outline our compliance with the UK GDPR and provide detailed information about our use of cookies and similar technologies on the platform. This policy is tailored for our UK-based audience and reflects UK laws and guidance, including the UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), often referred to as the “UK cookie law.”

1. UK GDPR Compliance

Open Career is dedicated to adhering to the principles and obligations set out in the UK GDPR.  In practical terms, this means we manage personal data in accordance with the following key principles:

1.1 Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency:

We only collect and use personal data where we have a lawful basis (such as consent, contract necessity, legitimate interest, or legal obligation). We strive to be transparent by informing users, primarily through our Privacy Policy and this document, about how we use their data.

1.2 Purpose Limitation:

We collect data for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes and do not further process it in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes. For example, if we collect your email for account verification, we won’t later use that email for unrelated marketing unless we have your consent.

1.3 Data Minimization:

We collect only the personal data that is necessary for the purposes stated. If information is not required, we either don’t collect it or we make it optional and clearly indicate that.

1.4 Accuracy:

We take reasonable steps to ensure the personal data we store is accurate and up-to-date. Users can help with this by updating their profiles if information changes. We provide ways for you to correct your data, and if you contact us about incorrect data that you cannot change yourself, we will address it promptly.

1.5 Storage Limitation:

We do not keep personal data for longer than necessary. Our data retention practices (detailed in the Privacy Policy above) outline how long different types of data are kept. When data is no longer needed, we delete it or anonymize it.

1.6 Integrity and Confidentiality (Security):

As described in our Data Security section, we implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data. This covers both technical
measures (like encryption and access controls) and organizational measures (like staff training and policies).

1.7 Accountability:

We maintain documentation of our data processing activities and are responsible for complying with these principles. We regularly review our data processes and policies. If we introduce new features or processing that might pose high privacy risks, we conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and consult with experts or authorities as needed.

We also ensure that any third-party processors we use (service providers processing data on our behalf) are GDPR-compliant and have data processing agreements in place with us.

If you ever have questions about our GDPR compliance or need more information about how we protect your data, feel free to reach out to us.

2. Cookies and Similar Technologies—Overview

Cookies are small text files that websites save on your device (computer, smartphone, tablet) when you visit them. They serve a variety of functions, like enabling certain features, remembering preferences, or collecting usage information. Similar technologies to cookies include local storage, pixels, web beacons, or device fingerprinting techniques. For simplicity, we’ll refer to all of these as “cookies” in this policy.

Open Career uses cookies for several reasons: to make our site work (or work more efficiently), to remember your preferences, to understand how people use our site, and to help us with our own marketing. Some cookies are set by us (first-partys), and some are set by others (third-party cookies) when you visit our site.

2.1 Consent Requirement:

Under UK law (PECR and UK GDPR), we can only use non-essential cookies if you give consent after being informed about them. Essential cookies (those necessary for the site to function) do not require consent. We fulfill this by presenting you with a cookie banner when you first visit, as described below

3. Cookies We Use and Why

Here’s a breakdown of the types of cookies and similar technologies on Open Career and their purposes:

3.1 Essential Cookies:

These cookies are crucial for the basic functions of the website. They enable core functionalities such as security, network management, and accessibility. For instance:

3.2 Authentication Cookies:

When you log in, we set a cookie to keep you logged in as you navigate through different pages. Without it, you would have to log in again on each page.

3.3 Session Cookies:

These keep track of your session data (e.g., items you might have in a favorites list or the information you entered on a multi-page form) and generally expire once you close your browser.

3.4 Security Cookies:

These help us prevent fraudulent activity and protect your account. For example, we might use a cookie to throttle login attempts or to note if you have changed your password recently.

3.5 Cookie Consent Cookie:

Ironically, we set a cookie to remember your cookie preferences (so that we know what you have or haven’t consented to).

These cookies are set automatically, and if you disable them (via browser settings), portions of the site may not work correctly. For example, without authentication cookies, our site can’t know that you are logged in, so you wouldn’t be able to move beyond the login page.

3.6 Functional Cookies:

These cookies enhance the functionality and personalization of the website. While not strictly necessary, they help improve your experience. Examples include:

3.7 Feature Cookies:

If we introduce certain interactive features or integrations, these cookies help them work. For instance, if we implemented a live chat support widget, it might use cookies to remember if you’ve already been helped.

3.8 Performance Cookies:

Sometimes categorized separately but similar to functional cookies, these might store information to optimize the speed of site loading or to remember choices to reduce redundant operations (like not showing you a tutorial twice).

We may not have many functional cookies at launch, but as features grow, these will be the cookies that make the experience smoother. We will ask for your consent to use functional cookies via the banner, since they are not strictly required.

3.9 Analytics Cookies:

We use these to collect information about how visitors use our site. This helps us understand and improve our service. Key points about our analytics cookies:

We primarily use Google Analytics. Google Analytics sets cookies (such as _ga , _gid , and others) to distinguish users (via anonymized identifiers) and throttle request rates (to manage the amount of data collected for high-traffic sites).

The information collected includes metrics like how many users visit, what pages they view, how long they stay, how they got to our site (e.g., via a search engine or another site), and what kind of device they use

We have configured Google Analytics to anonymize IP addresses for UK/EU visitors. This means that Google truncates the last octet of your IP address (so it’s less specific) before storing it to help protect your privacy.

We use the analytics data in an aggregate form. For example, we might see “X number of users visited the Engineering Jobs category in March” or “The average time on site is Y minutes.” We do not try to identify individual users through analytics.

These cookies are not set unless you consent. If you decline analytics cookies, your visits will not be tracked by Google Analytics. (Our site will still function the same for you; we just won’t know about your visit in our analytics reports.)

3.10 Advertising Cookies (for Open Career ads):

Currently, Open Career does not display third-party advertisements, but we use cookies to assist in our own advertising campaigns on other platforms (like Facebook or Google). If you consent to advertising cookies:

3.11 Facebook/Meta Pixel:

This is a piece of code on our site that sets cookies and allows us to measure and build audiences for advertising. For instance, it helps us keep track of conversions (like how many people who saw our Facebook ads actually signed up on Open Career) and helps us show ads to people who have visited our site (remarketing). The Meta Pixel might set cookies such as *_fbp which identifies browsers for providing advertising and site analytics services.

3.12 Google Ads Cookies:

Similar to Meta, we may use Google Ads cookies to track conversions and retarget visitors on Google’s ad network (which includes Google search result ads or other websites participating in Google’s display network). Cookies like *_gcl might be used to help us understand which clicks on ads led to sign-ups. 

These advertising cookies allow us to better reach people who are likely interested in Open Career (like visitors who didn’t complete registration) and to measure the effectiveness of our ad spend. They do not mean we are showing other companies’ ads on our site.

If you do not consent to these cookies, we will not load the Meta Pixel or Google Ads tracking on your device. You’ll still see general ads on other platforms (as per those platforms’ normal operations), but not targeted from us in relation to your Open Career visit.

3.13 Other Third-Party Cookies:

As of now, our site’s primary third-party integrations relate to analytics and advertising, as mentioned. If we embed content from other services (for example, a YouTube video on a blog post or a map from Google Maps on a contact page), those services might set cookies too. We will update our policy and cookie consent manager to list any such cookies if they become relevant. In any case, such cookies will also not be set without your consent if they are not essential.

4. Managing Cookies and Consent

4.1 Consent on First Visit:

When you first visit Open Career, you are presented with a cookie consent banner. This banner informs you that we use cookies and asks for your consent for the non-essential ones. You have the option to: – Accept all cookies (which includes functional, analytics, and advertising). – Reject all non-essential cookies (which means only essential cookies will be used). – Customize your choices (often through a “preferences” or “settings” option on the banner), where you can toggle categories on or off as you prefer.

Until you make a choice, the site will generally not set non-essential cookies (some minimal exceptions might apply if a script is technically loaded before the banner interaction, but we aim to prevent any non-essential cookies from dropping without consent).

4.2 Changing Your Preferences:

If at any time you want to change your cookie settings, you can usually find a “Cookies” link or button on our site (commonly in the footer or within your account settings) that opens the cookie consent manager. Through that, you can modify your consent choices — for instance, to opt out of analytics if you previously opted in, or to enable functional cookies if you previously declined them.

4.3 Browser Controls:

In addition to our site’s tools, you can control cookies through your web browser settings. Most browsers allow you to view and delete existing cookies. – Block third-party cookies (which are cookies set by domains different from the site you’re visiting). – Block all cookies from being set (note: doing this might prevent websites from working properly, including ours). – Set preferences for certain sites (e.g., always allow cookies from trusted sites, always block from others). – Use “Private” or “Incognito” mode, which generally doesn’t use existing cookies or keep cookies after you close the session (but note it doesn’t prevent cookies from being used during the session itself).

Each browser is different, so check the help section of your browser for specifics on managing cookies. If you use multiple browsers or devices, remember that your cookie preferences are typically per browser/device, so you should adjust settings on each one.

4.4 Opt-Out of Analytics/Ads Globally:

There are also tools provided by some third parties: Google provides a browser add-on to opt out of Google Analytics on all sites (the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on). – The Digital Advertising Alliance and European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance provide websites where you can opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies (such as optout.aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.eu). These don’t remove ads entirely, but disconnect the behavioral targeting for your browser

4.5 Do Not Track:

Some web browsers have a “Do Not Track” (DNT) feature that sends a signal to websites indicating you don’t want to be tracked. There is no standard interpretation of DNT signals yet. At this time, Open Career’s cookie consent system primarily relies on explicit consent via the banner, and we do not treat a DNT signal as a withdrawal of consent (since users can use our provided tools to manage cookies). We encourage you to use our on-site tools to manage your preferences.

5. Changes to this Policy

We may update this GDPR & Cookies Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legal requirements, or our practices. If we make significant changes, we will inform users by updating the “Last Updated” date above and, where appropriate, by additional notice (e.g., on our homepage or via email notification for registered users).

For example, if we start using a new type of cookie or introduce a new third-party integration that affects cookies, we will update this policy and our consent banner to include those details. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we are using your data and protecting your privacy.

6. Contact Information (Cookies and Data Protection)

If you have any questions or concerns about our GDPR & Cookies Policy or about privacy at Open Career in general, please contact us:

We will gladly assist you with any inquiries. Your trust is important to us, and we are committed to ensuring your data is handled safely, respectfully, and in compliance with the law.