Candidate Communication Archive Policy

A candidate communication archive policy tells a small hiring team what communications to keep, why, who may access them and when to review or remove them. Write it at plan stage, before messages spread across systems.

This implementation playbook covers the record lifecycle, not message copy or hiring decisions. It is general information, not legal advice or a compliance guarantee, and is a supporting resource that can later merge into a canonical outreach hub.

Keep the archive lifecycle separate

A reply-handling runbook covers live replies, while a pre-send approval record covers one proposed confidential contact. This policy starts once events exist and sets purpose, retention, access, review and disposal; it is not either record.

Define purpose and minimum necessary fields

List purposes before storage: contact about a named role, record a candidate preference, answer access or correction, investigate an error, or preserve evidence under a documented hold. "Keep everything in case it is useful later" is not a purpose. Keep search evidence, ranking output, interview notes and communications as separate classes, linked only when needed.

Use the smallest record that lets an owner understand the event and apply the policy:

Record ID and verified identity reference:
Role, purpose and approved brief version:
Channel, sender, event date, timestamp and timezone:
Message version and exact candidate wording only where needed:
Source or contact-basis reference, scope and suppression state:
Record owner, approved access role and review date:
Retention class, status and disposal or exception decision:
Correction, rights request or incident reference, if applicable:

Do not copy a full private thread when an event, version and narrow excerpt answer the question. Mark unknowns and assign owners; do not guess identity, interest, availability or permission.

Map systems and access roles

Register every approved record store, such as a recruiting workspace, mailbox or manual record. Name purpose, classes, owner, access, deletion path, copy risks and review date. Choose a source of truth; require human identity review before merging duplicates.

Use least-privilege roles: the archive owner maintains classes and reviews; the sender records events; the role owner sees job facts; the privacy/process owner handles rights, basis and suppression; security or IT controls authentication, logs and deletion. Consult a qualified adviser for holds or jurisdiction questions.

Record who granted access, its purpose and review or expiry. Keep messages and contact details out of general chat, copied spreadsheets and unapproved tools.

Set retention classes and review points

Do not choose one number of days for every candidate or channel. Set the period from purpose, process, law or a hold. The UK's storage-limitation guidance, checked 4 September 2026, says keep personal data no longer than needed and review it for erasure or anonymisation; the page flags it as under review. Its AI-assisted recruitment guidance, published 6 November 2024, highlights purpose, minimum data, responsibilities and transparency.

At review, check purpose, fields, duplicates, exports, requests, suppression and holds. Log reviewer, date, action, reason, exception and unknowns, including copies.

Handle correction, suppression and candidate rights

Do not silently overwrite an auditable communication. Preserve the original, mark a correction or superseding version with reason and actor, and prevent reuse. Correction differs from suppression: a source may need review, while an explicit no-contact request requires the approved stop across the record.

Depending on jurisdiction and context, a candidate may ask what is held, request correction or deletion, object to or restrict a use, or ask about automation. Do not promise a result or universal response period. Verify identity proportionately, record scope, assign one owner and use the approved process. If deletion conflicts with suppression or a hold, record the reason and seek advice.

Escalate an archive incident

Treat a wrong recipient, unauthorised access, broad forwarding, duplicate merge, over-retention, sensitive disclosure, disputed source or privacy request as a stop. Freeze messages and sharing, preserve minimum restricted evidence, record time and people involved, and assign an owner.

The owner coordinates containment, access review, correction or suppression and any candidate acknowledgement. Assess notification, reporting and legal questions with an adviser; close with action, uncertainty, review date and prevention change.

Worked example: closing one role

Suppose a fictional team closes a Product Operations role after an email and LinkedIn message. The archive owner records brief version, sender, channels and dates in the role-communication class and schedules review. The candidate asks for no further contact; the team stops, applies cross-channel suppression and restricts the history. Deletion is not a substitute for the stop.

If the candidate disputes a factual statement, the privacy or source owner preserves the request, marks it under review and records correction. At review, redundant exports are removed, fields without a continuing purpose are deleted or anonymised under local policy, and the archive owner logs what remains and why. No one infers motivation from a decline.

Where Talent Summoner fits

Talent Summoner is our product for candidate sourcing and ranking. Its candidate-sourcing workflow, checked 4 September 2026, starts from a role brief, searches LinkedIn, GitHub and other public professional sources, and returns ranked results with plain-English reasoning for human review. Treat output as research input, not proof of identity, permission or a communication event.

When a team has CV material, candidate ranking, checked 4 September 2026, compares it with a job description and produces a ranked report for human review. Talent Summoner does not archive communications, operate an inbox or provide an integration, and it sends outreach only after you confirm each message. People own retention, rights, suppression and hiring decisions.

Name the archive owner, classes and review dates; test correction and suppression. Then start candidate sourcing; use candidate ranking for an existing CV set.