Privacy policy

This policy explains how RecTalk Media (“RecTalk”, “we”, “us”) collects and uses personal data through rectalk.co.uk: when you apply to be a guest, ask about partnering with us, send us a message or sign up to our newsletter, and when you appear on RecTalk as a guest. We follow UK data protection law: the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Who we are

This website is run by RecTools.io Limited, trading as RecTalk Media, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 11933858. Our registered office is at 53–55 Earlsdon Park One, Butts Road, Coventry CV1 3BH. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

If you have any questions about this policy or your data, email us at info@rectalk.co.uk.

The data we collect

We only collect what you give us, plus a small amount of technical information:

• Guest applications: your name, email address, company, job title, LinkedIn profile link (if you give one), the topic you'd like to talk about and why you'd be a great guest.
• Partnership enquiries: your name, work email address, company, what you're interested in and your message.
• Contact messages: your name, email address and message.
• Newsletter sign-ups: your email address.
• Spam protection: when you send a form, we keep a scrambled (one-way encrypted) version of your IP address for about a day, so we can limit how many messages can be sent from one place. We can't turn it back into your IP address.
• Server logs: like most websites, our hosting provider keeps short-term technical logs (such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested) to keep the site running and secure.

We don't use analytics or advertising trackers, and we don't build profiles of the people who visit our website.

How we use your data, and our lawful basis

• To consider guest applications and reply to enquiries and messages. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests in running RecTalk and responding to people who contact us. For partnership enquiries, it is also taking steps at your request before entering into a contract. When you send a form, a copy is emailed to our team so we can reply quickly.
• To send you our newsletter. Our lawful basis is your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any newsletter email, or by emailing us.
• To protect our website and forms from spam and abuse. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests in keeping the site secure.
• To feature guests on RecTalk (see below). Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests in publishing and promoting our shows.
• To meet our legal obligations, for example keeping business records or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We never sell your personal data, and we don't use it for advertising.

If you appear on RecTalk

When you're a guest, we publish your name, job title and company on the episode's page and on your own guest page, together with the episode itself. Where available, we also show your LinkedIn profile link, a photo and a short bio. Most of this comes from our YouTube episode descriptions.

We use an AI service (Anthropic) to help write episode summaries and to pick out guests' names and roles from those descriptions. It only sees our published episode details, never anything you send us through our forms.

If you were a guest and would like anything corrected or removed from our website, email us at info@rectalk.co.uk and we'll sort it.

Who we share it with

We use trusted service providers who handle data on our behalf, only on our instructions and under contracts that protect it:

• Vercel: hosts our website. Our website's servers run in the EU (Dublin); pages are delivered through Vercel's global network.
• Supabase: stores our website's database and files, in the EU (Ireland).
• Resend: sends the email notifications when you submit a form (United States).
• Our email provider: receives those notifications in our inbox.
• Anthropic: helps write episode summaries from our published episode descriptions (United States).
• YouTube (Google): hosts our videos. They only load when you press play (see “Cookies” below).

We may also share data with our professional advisers (such as accountants or lawyers) under a duty of confidentiality, or where the law requires us to.

International transfers

Some of our providers are based in, or may access data from, the United States or other countries outside the UK. Where they do, we make sure your data is protected by an approved safeguard: UK adequacy regulations (including the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified), or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep it

• Guest applications and partnership enquiries: 24 months from when you send them.
• Contact messages: 12 months from when you send them.
• Newsletter sign-ups: until you unsubscribe.
• Spam-protection records: about a day.
• Server logs: the short period our hosting provider keeps them.
• Guest information: for as long as the episode is published, unless you ask us to remove it.

Form submissions are deleted from our website automatically at the end of these periods, and we apply the same periods to the email copies we receive. We may keep something for longer only where the law requires it, or if it's needed to deal with a dispute.

Cookies and similar technologies

We only use what's strictly necessary for the website to work, so these don't need your consent:

• Your cookie choice, stored in your browser so we don't ask again.
• A sign-in cookie for members of our team who use the website's admin area. Visitors never receive it.

We don't use analytics or advertising cookies. If we add analytics in future, they'll only run if you choose “Allow optional”, and we'll update this policy first.

Videos: episode videos only load when you press play, and use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). Once a video is playing, YouTube (Google) may store information on your device, as described in Google's privacy policy (opens in a new tab).

Share buttons: the LinkedIn, X and WhatsApp buttons are plain links. Nothing is shared with those services unless you click one, after which their own privacy policies apply.

You can change your cookie choice at any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page.

Keeping your data safe

Everything on our website travels over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Only authorised members of the RecTalk team can see form submissions, and they sign in with a one-time link sent to their email. Our database only lets the public read published content and send forms, and our secret access keys never leave our servers.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• get a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct anything that's wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your data;
• ask us to restrict how we use it, or object to how we use it (including to stop marketing at any time);
• receive the data you gave us in a format you can take elsewhere;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To use any of these rights, email info@rectalk.co.uk. It's free, and we'll reply within one month. We may need to confirm your identity first.

Children

RecTalk is for people working in and around recruitment. Our website isn't aimed at children, and we don't knowingly collect children's personal data.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk (opens in a new tab) or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy if the way we use personal data changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed.