Global 8th Light Candidate Privacy Notice

1. Introduction

This Global Candidate Privacy Notice (“Notice”) applies to 8th Light Inc., 8th Light Limited, and their relevant affiliates (collectively, “8th Light,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Notice describes how 8th Light collects, uses, stores, and discloses personal data about any candidates or other individuals who apply to an open position with us; who we contact for or who express interest in employment with us; who attend a recruitment event; or who undergo an interview or assessment with us (“Candidate(s)”).

This notice also describes the rights that candidates may have in relation to the personal data we process about them, with a specific focus on how we use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated tools to support our recruitment team. As used in this Notice, “personal data” means any information that relates to, identifies, or reasonably could be used to identify an individual, directly or indirectly.

This notice does NOT apply to:

Personal data that 8th Light processes about you if you interact with 8th Light websites, social media pages, or other non-career websites which we operate. In such cases, the privacy notice posted on the digital properties you interact with will apply; or
Personal data that 8th Light processes about you if you are an employee with 8th Light, which is subject to our separate Employee Privacy Notice.

If you are offered and you accept a role at 8th Light, the Candidate personal data collected during the recruiting process will become part of your employee file.

At 8th Light, we are committed to building a transparent, equitable, and efficient hiring process. The sections below explain what specific tools we use, how your data is processed, and your rights as an applicant, which includes your right to opt out of AI processing.

2. How We Use Technology in Hiring

We use software provided by Greenhouse (our applicant tracking system), CLEAR ®, and Brighthire to help our human recruiters review applications efficiently and securely.

These tools act as decision support. They do not make hiring decisions for us.

Here are the specific tools we use:

Talent Matching via Greenhouse (AI-Assisted): This tool analyzes the text of your resume (such as your skills, job titles, and years of experience) and matches it against the specific criteria our recruitment team has defined for the job. It helps our recruiters surface relevant experience faster.
Fraud Detection & Spam Blocking via Greenhouse: We use two separate rules-based tools to protect the integrity of our hiring pipeline. Our Spam Blocklist screens incoming applications for known bot domains and spam submissions. Our Fraud Detection tool, powered by IPQualityScore (IPQS), analyzes a limited set of device, network, and contact signals to flag potentially fraudulent applications. This includes IP address, browser and device information, email address and domain metadata, phone number and carrier metadata, and the candidate's self-reported city-level location.
Use of AI/ML: Neither tool uses artificial intelligence or machine learning to make decisions. All flags are reviewed by a human recruiter before any action is taken. No candidate is rejected solely on the basis of a fraud or spam flag.
CLEAR® Identity Verification via Greenhouse: For all roles, we require applicants to verify their identity using CLEAR. This involves a secure, biometric verification process to ensure applicants are who they say they are. See CLEAR’s FAQ for Candidates.
BrightHire via Zoom: We use this tool for generating summaries and insights from interview audio recordings and transcripts. See Brighthire’s FAQ for Candidates.
Custom Sourcing Agent (AI-Powered): Before you apply, our recruitment team may use an AI-powered sourcing tool built on Claude (Anthropic) to identify potential candidates. This tool only searches publicly available information including: Google Search results, GitHub profiles, and Stack Overflow activity. This agent searches based on non-protected skills, and publicly listed work. If you are identified through this tool, a recruiter may reach out to invite you to apply. No private data is collected; the tool only accesses information you have made publicly available.

We exercise the utmost diligence and caution in selecting our vendors and require various assurances from them including bias audits, performance testing, and risk assessments of applicable AI tools.

3. Humans Make the Final Decision

We do not use AI to make automated hiring decisions or automatic rejections. Tools like Talent Matching provide our team with groupings of candidates to help prioritize reviews. However, a trained human recruiter reviews all applications, decides whether to advance or reject your candidacy, and documents the rationale for their decision. You will never be disqualified from a role solely based on an AI-generated score.

4. What Data is Processed & Who Processes It?

To use some of these tools, specific categories of your personal data are processed securely:

Application Data: When you apply, data such as your resume, skills, employment history, and education are processed by Greenhouse and its sub-processors (which may include secure third-party Large Language Models like OpenAI) for the narrow purpose of extracting and matching your skills to our job requirements. You may opt-out of AI-processing at any time.
Identity Data: When you go through CLEAR verification, your biometric identifiers (such as facial geometry) are collected and processed directly by CLEAR. 8th Light does not collect, view, or store your biometric data. We only receive a confirmation status (e.g., "Verified" or "Not Verified") from CLEAR.
Interview Audio & Transcripts: If you participate in a recorded interview, your audio, and the resulting transcripts are processed by BrightHire to generate summaries and insights for our recruitment team. You may opt-out of audio transcription at any time.
Background Check Data: If you reach the offer stage, a third-party background check provider processes data regarding your criminal background, employment history, and education records to complete pre-employment screening.
Publicly Available Sourcing Data: If you are identified through our Custom Sourcing Agent before applying, the tool only accesses information you have made publicly available (e.g., GitHub, Stack Overflow, public web profiles). We do not collect, store, or process any private data through this tool.

Data Retention: We’ll retain your Personal Data for as long as required to comply with our legal obligations. Retention periods vary by region.

For EU-based and UK-based candidates, we retain the records of unsuccessful candidates for up to 6 months from the date a hiring decision is made, after which they are anonymized. These anonymized records are permanently deleted after 12 months.

For US-based and Canada-based candidates, we retain the records of unsuccessful candidates for up to 4 years to comply with applicable state employment laws, including requirements in California, Illinois, and New York.

In all regions, data parsed by Greenhouse for Talent Matching is temporarily cached for 30 days. Here is more information on how CLEAR retains your biometric data.

To comply with local employment and privacy laws, we typically retain recruitment records (which may include AI match results and human evaluation notes) for up to 4 years, after which they are securely deleted. Data parsed by Greenhouse for Talent Matching is temporarily cached for 30 days. Here is more information on how CLEAR retains your biometric data.

5. How We Process Candidate Personal Data

We may process your personal data for the following purposes:

Purpose of Processing	Lawful Basis
For recruiting purposes, to determine your qualifications for employment, and to make hiring decisions. For instance, we may process your personal data when evaluating your candidacy and communicating with you about the hiring process. Where legally permissible to do so, we may contact you about 8th Light roles for which you may be a fit.	Legitimate interests; Consent
To conduct pre-employment background checks. For instance, to verify your criminal history, employment background, and education records at the offer stage, subject to applicable local laws.	Legitimate interests; Legal Obligation
To send you communications about 8th Light job postings, careers fairs, newsletters, and related corporate communications. For instance, emailing you to let you know a new role matching your skills has opened.	Consent
To provide accommodations during the recruitment process. For instance, to provide accommodations requested for physical or mental conditions during the recruitment process.	Legal Obligations
For the purpose of equal opportunities monitoring, compliance with anti-discrimination laws, or government-reporting obligations. For instance, collecting optional demographic data to monitor the diversity of our applicant pool.	Consent
To establish, exercise, or defend against legal claims. For instance, retaining recruitment records to respond to a legal dispute regarding our hiring process.	Legal claims; Legal obligations
To fulfill a referral request when you are referred for a role with 8th Light by an 8th Light employee using our referral process. For instance, using the provided contact information to reach out and invite you to apply.	Consent; Legitimate interests

6. Your Right to Opt-Out & Alternative Processes

We respect your preferences regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence. You have the right to opt-out of having your application processed by the AI Talent Matching tool.

If you choose to opt-out:

Your application will bypass the automated sorting and AI matching features entirely.
Your application will be placed in a standard review queue where it will receive a manual, equitable review by our recruitment team using the exact same criteria as all other candidates.
Opting out will not negatively impact your application or your chances of being hired.

If you are identified through our Custom Sourcing Agent before applying, that tool only accesses information you have made publicly available. If you would prefer not to be contacted through sourcing outreach, you may indicate this when a recruiter reaches out or contact us at recruiting@8thlight.com.

How to Opt-Out: You can select the "Opt-Out of AI Processing" checkbox directly on the job application form. If you missed this step and wish to opt out after submitting, please email recruiting@8thlight.com.

Reasonable Accommodations: If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process or the CLEAR ® identity verification step, please contact us at: recruiting@8thlight.com.

7. Your Privacy Rights

You may have a legal right under applicable law (for example, the European Union’s (“EU”) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) applicable to EU residents’ personal data, or the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, “CCPA”)) to access the Personal Data we maintain about you. If you would like to review, correct, or update your Personal Data, or exercise any rights to withdraw your consent for us to collect any information, please email recruiting@8thlight.com. We will try to respond to your request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable, consistent with applicable law.

8. Notice for California Candidates

If you are a California resident, please review our Privacy Notice for California Job Applicants, which describes your full rights under the CPRA, including the right to request categories of personal information collected, sources, business purposes, third-party disclosures, and more. To exercise your rights, contact us at recruiting@8thlight.com.