With this privacy policy, we, KWS UK Limited (hereinafter “KWS”, “we”, or “us”), inform you of what data will be processed in connection with your application process and what rights you have in this regard.
1. Data processing controller
The controller of the data processing within the meaning of Article 4(7) of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) is KWS UK Limited, Thriplow, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7RE, United Kingdom.
2. Contact details
KWS UK Ltd.
56 Church Street
Thriplow, Royston, Hertfordshire
SG8 7RE, United Kingdom
E-mail: dataprotection.kwsuk@kws.com
3. What personal data do we process in connection with your application process?
We may process any of the following personal data in a given case. Not all of the following data from all applicants will be processed.
- Contact information, including name, personal mailing address, telephone number(s), and personal email address
- Nationality, place and date of birth
- Data regarding your training, qualifications, and professional development
- Data regarding any continuing education activities and additional qualifications
- Salary expectations, notice periods, certificates, references, recommendations, work permit, disability and language skills
4. For what purpose do we process your data?
(a) We process your personal data, which we receive from you, to process your application for a specific job vacancy or as an unsolicited application, to carry out the application process and to decide on the establishment of an employment relationship.
(b) In some circumstances, we may also process your personal data on the basis of a declaration of consent given by you. The purposes of processing are based on the content of the respective declaration of consent. This can apply, for example, in the following cases:
- Your application did not result in employment with our company. However, your profile may be of interest for future job vacancies for a comparable position with our company or another KWS company, and we have added you to our group-wide applicant pool.
(c) In some circumstances, we may also process your personal data in order to comply with statutory obligations under the commercial, tax, financial, or criminal law. The purposes of processing are based on the respective legal obligation. Processing is generally carried out to comply with official supervisory and disclosure requirements.
(d) Where necessary, we process information about your disability to arrange reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or, following an offer of employment, to plan reasonable adjustments for work. We process this information to comply with our statutory obligation to make reasonable adjustments, including under the Equality Act 2010.
KWS does not ask applicants about their health or disability before making an offer of work or, where no position is currently available, before including them in a pool of successful applicants, except where such questions are permitted by law, for example to arrange reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or to assess an intrinsic function of the role.
(e) If necessary, we may also process your personal data in order to safeguard our legitimate interests. We will only process your personal data if, after taking into consideration our interests in processing against your potentially conflicting interests and fundamental rights and freedoms, we find that our interests prevail. This can apply in the following cases:
- Defense against asserted legal claims from the application process. Our legitimate interest, for example, lies in the burden of proof in proceedings in accordance with the General Act on Equal Treatment.
5. On what legal basis do we process your data?
(a) We process personal data to carry out the application process and decide whether to establish an employment relationship on the basis of Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR.
Data about you that may constitute special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 (1) UK GDPR is only processed by us on the basis of Art. 9 (2) UK GDPR, that is, when the intended processing is made legitimate by law.
(b) Where your application has not resulted in employment with our company, but your profile may be of interest for a comparable position with our company or another KWS company, we may add you to our group-wide applicant pool on the basis of your consent under Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR.
Where we process special categories of personal data on the basis of your explicit consent, the legal basis is Article 9(2)(a) UK GDPR.
You may revoke consent at any time. Please note, however, that this revocation is only with effect for the future, which means that the legality of the data processing carried out up to the time of revocation based on your consent is not affected by the revocation.
(c) Where we process your personal data to comply with a legal obligation, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(c) UK GDPR.
Where compliance with employment-related legal obligations requires the processing of special categories of personal data, we rely on Article 9(2)(b) UK GDPR and Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
(d) Where we process information about your disability to comply with our statutory obligation to make reasonable adjustments, the legal bases are Article 6(1)(c) and Article 9(2)(b) UK GDPR, together with Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
(e) Where we process your personal data to safeguard our legitimate interests, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR. Our legitimate interests are the purposes specified in Section 4(e).
6. Are your personal data also collected by third parties?
We mainly process the personal data that we receive directly from you. In certain situations, we also obtain your personal data from third parties. This is done, for example, in the following cases:
- We receive your applicant data from other KWS companies if your application documents were added to the applicant pool.
- We receive your applicant data via a recruitment agency.
- We receive your applicant data from a KWS employee as a recommendation.
- We receive your applicant data from a social network or a job portal where you are registered to be part of an applicant pool.
If necessary, we will inform you of this in greater detail separately.
7. Who do we share information with?
If you have provided consent, or if another legal basis comes into play, we will forward your applicant data to other KWS companies.
We work with the company’s internal and external service providers (referred to as processors), such as service providers for IT maintenance services. These service providers may only act in accordance with our instructions and are contractually required to comply with the applicable data protection requirements.
Where legally permissible and necessary to comply with applicable law or to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims, we forward your personal data to courts, authorities, and law firms.
8. Sharing information outside the UK
Recipients may be located outside the United Kingdom. Where necessary, we will transfer personal information outside of the UK in accordance with the international transfer requirements of the UK GDPR. We rely on UK adequacy regulations where the destination provides an adequate level of protection or, where necessary, implement appropriate safeguards in accordance with Article 46 UK GDPR.
We may transfer your personal data to KWS Group companies in Germany that provide HR and IT support to KWS UK. Germany is covered by UK adequacy regulations and is therefore recognized as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data. You may contact us using the contact details provided above to obtain further information about the applicable transfer mechanism.
9. How long do we store your personal data?
KWS only stores its applicants’ data as long as necessary to fulfil the given purposes (see Section 4). Data that is no longer needed or that KWS is no longer allowed to store is either irreversibly anonymised or erased. In the event that data is anonymised, KWS may retain the data for a longer period because every personal reference has been removed.
If your application is not successful, we will erase your application documents within six months after completion of the application process at the latest, unless you have given us consent to add your data to our applicant pool. In this case, we will erase your data within two years at the latest.
If an employment relationship is established between you and us, we do not erase the data from your application process, but instead include the data in your personnel file as far as this is necessary. We then process these data for the purpose of implementing the employment relationship.
10. What rights do you have?
Within the context of the applicable legal provisions, you have certain rights related to your personal data. Please note that there are certain exceptions to the exercising of these rights, and you therefore cannot exercise them in all cases.
- Your right of access: You have the right to obtain information about all personal data stored by KWS about you. Certain exemptions may apply, meaning that you may not receive all the information you request.
- Your right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct personal information you consider inaccurate or complete information you consider incomplete.
- Your right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to restriction of processing: You have the right to ask us to limit how we use your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to data portability: You have the right to ask us to transfer personal information you provided to us to another organisation or to you in certain circumstances.
- Your right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent as our lawful basis, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information or to exercise any of your other rights. This helps us to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. No fee is required to make a request unless your request is clearly unfounded or excessive. Depending on the circumstances, we may be unable to comply with your request based on other lawful grounds.
Further information about your rights is available on the official website of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection authority: Your data protection rights | ICO.
11. Right to object
Case-based right to object
Where we process your personal data on the basis of legitimate interests, you may object at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop the processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
To exercise your rights, please contact us using the contact details provided in Section 2.
If you remain unhappy with how we have used your personal data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.
Last updated
Royston, June 30, 2026