Candidate Privacy Notice

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Effective Date: July 28, 2026

ForteNext (“us”, “we”, or “our”) operates the https://www.fortenext.com website (hereinafter referred to as the “Service”).

This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, safeguard and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.

We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Introduction

Forte Next ("Company", "we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals whose personal data we process.

This Candidate Privacy Notice explains how the Company collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data obtained during recruitment and hiring activities.

The Company processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws, including, where applicable, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, applicable U.S. privacy laws, and other legal requirements relevant to the jurisdictions in which the Company operates.

This Candidate Privacy Notice should be read together with the Company's Privacy Notice for Website Visitors and Business Contacts and provides additional information regarding the processing of candidate personal data.

2. Definitions

Data Controller – The entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. Under this Notice, the Data Controller of your personal data is the Forte Next entity to which you apply for a position.

Data Processor (Service Provider) – A third party that processes personal data on behalf of the Company in support of recruitment activities. This may include recruitment platforms, communication providers, background screening providers, and approved AI technologies used for note-taking, transcription, scheduling, or other administrative recruitment activities.

Candidate – An individual who applies for employment or other engagement opportunities with the Company and whose personal data is processed as part of the recruitment process.

Personal Data – Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

The Company processes candidate personal data on one or more of the following legal bases, as applicable:

• taking steps at the request of the candidate prior to entering into an employment or contractual relationship;
• compliance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations, including national labor laws;
• the Company's legitimate interests in conducting and managing recruitment activities, such as verifying qualifications and conducting internal administrative processes;
• the candidate's consent, where required by applicable law, for example, interview recordings, AI-assisted transcription, or retention of candidate information for future opportunities.

4. What Information We May Collect

Depending on the stage of the recruitment process and the requirements of the position, the Company may collect and process:

• contact information, such as name, email address, telephone number, and location;
• CVs, resumes, cover letters, and other application materials;
• professional experience, including previous employers, positions, responsibilities, achievements, and employment history;
• education, qualifications, certifications, training, and professional development information;
• skills, competencies, language proficiency, and other information relevant to the position;
• interview notes, assessments, testing results, recruitment feedback, and other candidate evaluation information;
• information voluntarily provided by the candidate during the recruitment process;
• interview recordings, transcripts, and AI-assisted notes or summaries, where applicable and subject to explicit prior consent;
• professional references and reference check information, where applicable and subject to the candidate's consent or prior notification, provided it complies with local laws;
• publicly available professional information, including information available through professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn;
• work authorization information, including visa, work permit, or similar documentation where relevant to the position;
• background screening information, subject to the applicable legal requirements and limitations. For candidates in the European Union, background checks (including criminal record checks) are only conducted where explicitly authorized or required by specific statutory provisions of national law. 

Providing your personal data as part of the recruitment process is voluntary. However, please note that providing certain basic information (such as your contact details, education, and professional history) is necessary for us to evaluate your application and proceed with the recruitment process. If you choose not to provide this mandatory information, we will not be able to consider you for employment opportunities.

5. How We Collect Personal Data

The Company may collect personal data directly from candidates through applications, CVs, interviews, assessments, communications, and other recruitment-related interactions and, where permitted by applicable law, from other sources involved in the recruitment process.

If we do not obtain your personal data directly from you, we may receive it from third-party sources such as:

• recruitment agencies, headhunters, or other authorized recruitment partners acting as independent data controllers or processors instructing the Company;
• professional networking platforms and publicly available professional sources (e.g., LinkedIn), where relevant to the recruitment process and in strict accordance with applicable data protection laws;
• professional references and background screening providers, where applicable,  in strict accordance with applicable local law and subject to your prior consent or notification, where required.

The categories of personal data obtained from these sources may typically include your professional experience, education, contact details, publicly available professional information, and other information relevant to the recruitment process.

6. How We Use Candidate Personal Data

The Company processes candidate personal data to:

• evaluate applications and candidate qualifications;
• communicate with candidates throughout the recruitment process;
• schedule and conduct interviews, assessments, and other recruitment activities;
• verify qualifications, employment history, references, and other information provided by candidates, where appropriate and legally permissible;
• perform background screening activities strictly in accordance with applicable local law, and only where permitted or required for the position;
• assess candidate suitability for employment or engagement opportunities;
• comply with legal, regulatory, contractual, and business requirements;
• establish, exercise, or defend legal claims based on the Company's legitimate interest.

7. Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies

The Company may use approved artificial intelligence technologies to assist with note-taking, transcription, summarization, scheduling, and other administrative activities related to recruitment.

Such tools are used solely to support recruitment personnel and do not make hiring decisions, evaluate candidates, or determine candidate suitability for employment. All hiring decisions are made by Company employees and involve human review and judgment.

The Company does not make decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produce legal effects concerning candidates or similarly significantly affect them.

Candidates will be informed where interview recording or AI-assisted transcription is used and, where required by applicable law, prior and explicit consent will be obtained before such processing takes place.

8. Who Can Access Your Data

Candidate personal data may be accessed by Company personnel involved in recruitment, hiring, management, administrative, legal, compliance, or technical support activities where such access is necessary for their responsibilities.

9. Who We Share Information With

The Company may share candidate personal data with service providers supporting recruitment and hiring activities, including recruitment platforms, background screening providers, communication providers, approved AI-assisted tools, and other service providers where necessary to support the recruitment process and subject to appropriate contractual, technical, organizational, and security safeguards.

As the Company operates internationally, candidate personal data may be accessed or processed by authorized Company personnel located in different countries where necessary to support recruitment, hiring, compliance, administrative, or business operations.

10. International Data Transfers

Candidate personal data may be processed or transferred internationally where necessary for recruitment activities, including within the Company's group entities and by approved service providers supporting the recruitment process.

Where personal data is transferred outside the candidate's country of residence or outside jurisdictions that provide an equivalent level of data protection (such as outside the European Economic Area - EEA), the Company will implement appropriate safeguards as required by applicable data protection laws.

These safeguards may include the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, and where applicable, relying on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

Candidates may contact the Company using the contact details provided in this Notice to request additional information regarding such safeguards.

11. Data Retention

We retain candidate personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including conducting recruitment activities, complying with applicable legal, regulatory, accounting, and reporting requirements, and establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims where necessary.

The retention period depends on the nature of the recruitment process, the type of personal data processed, the purposes of processing, applicable legal requirements, and our legitimate business needs. Once personal data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymized in accordance with our retention practices.

Where permitted by applicable law and based on your consent, we may retain your personal data for consideration for future employment opportunities. You may withdraw your consent at any time, after which your personal data will no longer be retained for that purpose.

12. Your Rights

Subject to applicable data protection laws, candidates may have the right to:

• request access to and receive a copy of their personal data;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
• request deletion of personal data where applicable (the “right to be forgotten”);
• request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
• object to the processing of personal data where permitted by law (including processing based on the Company's legitimate interests);
• request the transfer of their personal data to another controller, where technically feasible and where the processing is based on consent or contract (“data portability”);
• withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before its withdrawal;
• lodge a complaint with a competent data protection authority.

You have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. Furthermore, you have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to any processing based on the Company's legitimate interests.

We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact the Company using the contact details provided in this Notice.

The Company will review and respond to such requests in accordance with applicable legal requirements and within the timeframes required by applicable law, which are generally no later than one month from receipt of the request.

13. Contact Information

The Company has established a dedicated Privacy Team responsible for overseeing compliance with applicable data protection requirements and serving as the primary point of contact for privacy-related inquiries.
You can contact our Privacy Team directly at: compliance@fortenext.com

Postal Address: 1200 N Federal Highway, Suite 200, Boca Raton, FL 33432, USA.

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