Animate Search Ltd and Animate Search Spain SL
In short
We are an executive search firm working on senior commercial roles. To do that we hold information about experienced professionals and about people at the companies we work with. Some of those people have never contacted us.
If we approached you and you did not reply, we delete your details 30 days after we stop trying to reach you. We do not keep a database of people who never wanted to hear from us.
If you would rather we did not hold your details, email privacy@animatesearch.com and say so. We will delete your record. You do not need to give a reason.
1. Who we are
Two companies act as joint controllers of the information described here. That means we decide together why and how it is used, and you can exercise your rights against either of us.
One address for everything: privacy@animatesearch.com
You do not need to work out which company holds your information. Write to that address and we will handle it across both. Between ourselves, Animate Search Ltd takes primary responsibility for responding to requests, keeping records, providing the information in this notice, and dealing with regulators. That does not limit your right to deal with either company, or to complain to the supervisory authority in your own country.
We are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer and have not done so. Privacy matters are handled by the contact above.
2. Where we get your information
If you are a candidate
If you work at a company we do business with
Telling you we hold your details
If we obtained your information from somewhere other than you, we tell you within one month, or in our first message to you if that comes sooner. That is normally what has brought you to this page.
3. What information we hold
Depending on how we came to know of you:
What we deliberately do not collect
We do not seek, record or keep information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data, health, sex life or sexual orientation, or criminal record.
That applies even where the information is publicly available, and even if you mention it to us. If we come across it, we discard it rather than recording it.
We also do not record or assess your age, sex, marital status, family or caring responsibilities, or disability.
4. Why we use your information, and on what legal basis
Where we rely on legitimate interests we have carried out an assessment weighing our interests against your rights, and we review it. Ask us and we will summarise it.
We do not ask for your consent to hold your professional details, because consent is not the basis we rely on. Instead you have an unconditional ability to tell us to stop, set out in section 9.
5. Research, assessment, and our use of AI
We profile candidates. Once you are being considered for a role, we research your professional background and produce an assessment of your suitability. It draws on the sources in section 2 and on our conversations with you.
We do this after you have engaged with us, not before. People we have simply approached are not assessed or researched in depth.
Recorded conversations
Where we record or transcribe a conversation we tell you before recording starts, and you can decline.
We use the transcript for two things: to write our assessment of your suitability, and as the evidence base for the market intelligence we report to our client during the search. That reporting is anonymised. It describes what the market is saying, not who is saying it, and it never identifies you. Section 7 explains it.
We delete the recording once the assessment is written. We keep the transcript until the search closes and then delete it, and we keep the assessment.
6. How long we keep your information
Five years reflects how senior appointments work. Tenures at this level typically run three to five years, and someone we spoke to about a role in one cycle is often the right person to speak to in the next. Keeping a record means we come to you with something relevant rather than starting from nothing.
If that is not how you see it, tell us and we will remove you. Section 9 explains how.
If you get back in touch, the clock starts again.
Our do-not-contact list
If you ask us to delete your information, we delete your record. We keep one minimal entry, normally your name and your professional profile link, marked “do not contact”, together with the date.
We keep it for one reason: without it you would reappear the next time we search for people in your field, and we would approach you again. It is used only to prevent contact, never to contact you. We keep it indefinitely, because the point of it is that it does not expire.
If you would rather we did not keep even that, tell us and we will remove it, though we cannot then guarantee we will not approach you again in future.
7. Who we share your information with
Our clients. We do not share anything about you with a client until you have agreed to it, for that specific role. We will tell you who the client is, what we propose to send and why, and we will not proceed until you confirm. We ask again for each new role.
That agreement is a safeguard we apply to every search, not the legal basis on which we act. We rely on legitimate interests, together with the steps you have asked us to take once you decide to go forward. The distinction works in your favour: your right to object under section 9 is available to you at any time, whether or not you have agreed to any particular introduction, and it is not something you have to withdraw.
Once a client receives your details they hold them as an independent controller under their own privacy policy, and our contract requires them to use them only for that role.
Market reporting. During a search we send our client a regular report on what the market is telling us: response rates, pay levels, what candidates are reacting to, and the questions being asked. It is drawn from our conversations and it is anonymised. We do not name you, and we do not include detail that would let the client work out who you are. We rely on legitimate interests for this, and you can object under section 9.
Our service providers, who process data on our instructions under written contracts:
Professional advisers, such as accountants and lawyers, where necessary.
Authorities, where the law requires it.
We do not sell your information and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing.
Before we have spoken
If we are approaching you, your name and professional details sit in our outreach software for the duration of that attempt. If you do not reply they are deleted 30 days after it ends, as set out in section 6.
8. Where your information is held
In the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area. Transfers between the two are covered by adequacy decisions in both directions, so no additional safeguard is needed.
Some of our service providers are based in, or store data in, the United States. Where that happens we rely on the provider’s certification under the EU–US or UK–US Data Privacy Framework, on standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, or on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. Ask us and we will tell you which applies to a particular provider.
9. Your rights
These are free to exercise. There is no charge, including for asking more than once.
Your right to object
Most of what we hold rests on legitimate interests, which means you can object at any time. If you do, we stop unless we can show compelling grounds that override your rights. In practice, if you tell us you do not want us holding your details, we delete them.
You do not need to give a reason, use particular wording, or fill in a form. Replying to one of our messages and saying so is enough.
Your other rights
How to use them
Email privacy@animatesearch.com. We reply within one month. If a request is complex we may extend that by up to two further months and will tell you if so, and why. We may need to verify your identity first.
If we have already shared your information with a client and you then ask us to delete it, we will tell them as well, unless that proves impossible or disproportionate.
10. Complaints
Please tell us first at privacy@animatesearch.com so we can try to put it right.
You can also complain to a supervisory authority:
11. Cookies and our website
You can browse our site without telling us who you are. We use cookies and analytics to understand how it is used. Non-essential cookies, including analytics, are only set if you agree through our cookie banner, and you can change your mind at any time.
IP addresses are personal data, so if you decline non-essential cookies we do not run analytics that would record yours.
Our site links to other websites. This notice does not cover them.
12. Security
We protect your information with measures appropriate to the risk: access controls and multi-factor authentication on our systems, device encryption, access limited to those who need it, and written confidentiality obligations on everyone who handles it. We review these regularly.
13. Changes
We may update this notice. The current version and its effective date are shown at the top. Where a change materially affects how we use your information we will take reasonable steps to tell you. Previous versions are available on request.