Privacy Policy.

1. Who We Are

Mercury Life Sciences Ltd ("Mercury", "we", "us", "our") is a specialist recruitment consultancy operating across the Life Sciences sector. We place candidates in permanent, contract, and interim roles with clients across the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

Mercury Life Sciences Ltd is the data controller in respect of the personal data we collect and process. As data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data and are responsible for ensuring that processing is lawful, fair, and transparent.

You can contact us at any time regarding your data:

2. Personal Data We Collect

Candidates and Job Seekers

When you submit your CV, register for a career consultation, or engage with us in a recruitment capacity, we may collect:

• Full name, contact details (email address, telephone number, address)
• CV and supporting documents, including employment history, qualifications, and skills
• Details of your current and previous roles, salary, and employment type preferences
• Information about your career aspirations, availability, and preferred locations
• Right to work status and nationality where required for a specific role
• Any additional information you choose to share with us during the recruitment process
• References obtained during the placement process (with your prior consent)

Clients and Hiring Organisations

When you engage Mercury Life Sciences to assist with recruitment, we may collect:

• Names and contact details of hiring managers, HR contacts, and other relevant personnel
• Job descriptions, role briefs, and organisational information you provide to us
• Feedback on candidates submitted to you
• Billing and invoicing information

Website Visitors

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, and the time and duration of your visit. This information is collected for website analytics and security purposes.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We process your personal data for the following purposes and on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

Where we rely on legitimate interests as the legal basis for processing, we have assessed that our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms, particularly given the nature of recruitment services where candidates actively seek to be represented.

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share your data in the following circumstances:

With Clients (Candidate Data)

We will share your CV and profile with prospective employers only with your explicit consent. We will always inform you of the client and role before making any submission.

With Candidates (Client Data)

We may share the names and details of hiring contacts with candidates as part of the recruitment process where this is necessary and proportionate.

Service Providers and Technology Partners

We use a small number of trusted third-party service providers to operate our business, including email delivery services and website hosting. These providers process data on our behalf and are contractually bound to handle it securely and in accordance with our instructions. They are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

Legal Obligations

We may disclose personal data where required to do so by law, by a court order, or by a regulatory authority.

International Transfers

Given that Mercury Life Sciences operates internationally, some data sharing may involve transfers to organisations outside the UK, including in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United States. Where such transfers occur, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR, including the use of standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions.

5. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law.

• Active candidates: We retain your data for up to 2 years from the date of last contact or activity. We will contact you before this period expires to confirm whether you wish to remain on our database.
• Placed candidates: Data relating to a completed placement may be retained for up to 6 years for contractual and legal purposes.
• Client contacts: Data is retained for the duration of the business relationship and for up to 6 years thereafter.
• Website enquiries: Contact form submissions are retained for up to 12 months.

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: You may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: You may request that we delete your data, subject to any legal obligations we may have to retain it.
• Right to restrict processing: You may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: You may request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@mercurylifesciences.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

7. Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience and to collect analytics data. Cookies are small text files placed on your device by your browser.

We may use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Necessary for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: Used to understand how visitors interact with our website, helping us improve content and user experience. These are anonymous and aggregated.

You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. For more information about cookies, visit aboutcookies.org.

8. Data Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These include secure email transmission, access controls, and regular review of our data handling practices.

While we take all reasonable steps to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet is entirely secure. If you have concerns about the security of information you have sent to us, please contact us.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

10. How to Make a Complaint

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal data, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance so that we can address it directly.

If you remain dissatisfied after contacting us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's supervisory authority for data protection:

To contact Mercury Life Sciences directly about any data protection matter, please email us at info@mercurylifesciences.co.uk.