Sunday, 6 September 2020

Job Portals : morphing as Consent Managers ?





Job Portals have been around for 30 + years – biggest being Naukri – MonsterIndia -TimesJobs  - Shinejobs etc
Each claim to have databases of 20 to 40 million resumes of jobseekers
Main services offered by Job Portals are :
  • To Jobseekers (  FREE service ) :  Submit Resume / Search Jobs and Apply Online or thru a Mobile App
  • To Employer Companies : ( Subscription based ) : Post Job advts / Search and download Resumes ( limited numbers )

Occasionally , some Job Portals offer “ Resume Writing “ service to jobseekers ( for a fee )
At its core, this traditional Business Model is nothing more than :
Selling “ resumes of jobseekers to employers (by charging hefty subscriptions ) and enticing jobseekers to provide their PRIVATE / PERSONAL DATA ( with offer of a FREE service ) “
And, while “ Submitting Resumes “, jobseekers grant an “ omnibus consent “ to the job portal , by clicking on “ I agree with the Terms and Conditions “ ( without reading ). Far from an “ Informed Consent “
I think this Business Model is very likely to undergo a major change, in light of the just released Draft of Government Policy permitting Indian Citizen to “ Sell their PERSONAL DATA “ , as described in my following blog :
Released : Govt Policy for Selling Personal Data   ……………………………………….( 06 Sept 2020 )

I see following possibilities :

[ A ] …. Job Portals may start selling of “ Bulk “ resumes to Companies with no interest in “hiring “any
            candidate but to use the database for targeted advertising, in order to increase customer base ( Eg :
           Educational Institutions / Health-Care Companies / E Commerce Portals / Insurance Companies etc )
            In this scenario , Job Portal starts acting as a CONSENT MANAGER and would require to obtain from
            the Jobseekers concerned, their “ SPECIFIC – INFORMED “ consent

[ B ]…..  Some Start-Ups becoming CONSENT MANAGERS, and facilitating transfer of RESUME-DATABASES
             from one company ( Seller ) to another company ( Buyer )
            It is worth remembering that most organized sector companies ( and especially those who have, in
            the past, subscribed to Job Portals and, over the years downloaded THOUSANDS of resumes for which
            they have no use any more . These resumes are just lying on their servers . So why not unleash their
           intrinsic / latent value by selling ?
           The Start-Ups interested in implementing this, may want to look up :

                  Resumes Exchange   ………………………………………………….[ 09 Feb 2016 ]

                 Resumes Exchange : A Job Portal Earthquake ?.........[ 29 June 2017 ]

 

      [ C ]… Job Portals themselves ( or OFFLINE RECRUITMENT  AGENCIES ) , may want to get into this business of

                EXCHANGE of RESUMES between Buyers and Sellers ( as outlined above )

 

At this stage , readers may say :

 

Hey , What kind of PERSONAL DATA does a Resume contain which would interest many Buyers ?

Here is my guess for the Data Fields which you might find in a SUBMIT RESUME form of a job-portal :

 

1.        First Name  /  Middle Name  /  Last  Name 
2.        Address  /  Current  Location 
3.     Photo ( sometimes optional ) 
4.        Mobile  Number  /  Email  ID  /  Birth Date 
5.        Gender   
6.        Educational  Details ;  Degrees -  Diplomas  -  Colleges  -  Years- attended  -  Marks  obtained   
7.        Current  Employer -  Designation  -  Salary 
8.        Jobs  held  in past – names of Companies – Periods worked – Salaries drawn – Designations held
9.        Reasons for leaving /  Position applying for or interested in
10.     Preferred location  /  Salary expected   
11.     Current   Industry – Function 
12.     Job Role  /  Skills acquired   
13.     Languages spoken – written 
14.     Area of specialization
15.     Marital  Status   
16.     Names of  References for checking background
17.     Name of Spouse
18.     Number of Children ( with their ages ) etc

Has there been any Court Judgments in past on the legality ( or otherwise ) of Job Portals " Selling "  personal data of jobseekers to third parties ?

YES . ( source : A  Fool's Paradise ?  / 29 Aug 2017 ) , from which I quote :



"At the time of entering personal information or data, job-seekers are not aware that the said data can be sold to any third person or that it can be misused. Accordingly, the said ostensible consent of the said applicant/individual cannot be said to be a free, voluntary or informed consent..." he said.
 


"It is common knowledge that when a person applies for a job on the internet, s/he feeds personal information which includes name, address and mobile number. In my opinion, the said data being personal information cannot be transferred /shared / sold to some third person without the consent of the said person," the court said.

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How do you propose compensating the Jobseekers when Consent Manager " Sells "  his personal data ?

>  Upon receiving a " I want to buy ( shopping cart of shortlisted resumes ) " request , Consent Manager ( Job Portal ),to obtain SPECIFIC / INFORMED consent from each resume-owner who got shortlisted ( may be an email with a link to click, fully explaining the purpose )

>  Asking the BUYER to direct deposit  ( DBT ) , Rs 30 / - in the JanDhan Bank Account of each consenting Resume-Owner

>  Upon getting confirmation of the CREDIT from each JD Account , Job Portal to email resumes of the relevant-consenting jobseekers to the Buyer 


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The following DIAGRAM , very briefly explains these scenarios :

 

 
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What might happen to the BIG  DADDIES ( of Online Recruitment Industry ) , if some agile / passionate /  obsessed START-UP implements ?

                  Resumes Exchange   ………………………………………………….[ 09 Feb 2016 ]


Imagine if EVERY company’s Computer has 100 MILLION , identical resumes ( and getting SYNCHRONIZED automatically , every morning )
And that Start-Up enabling downloading of a Resume Search Engine to each of those companies, to enable local searching of resumes on OWN COMPUTERS , instead of searching on Job Portals
Now , you can guess what will happen !
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hcp@RecruitGuru.com  / 07 Sept 2020


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