Today, in response to changing laws and regulations around user privacy, Matador Software is removing the Leads & Referrals All Access Extension.
User Privacy and Refer-a-Friend
All-Access subscribers with a Bullhorn Enterprise-level account could access this formerly useful tool to allow individuals to refer-a-friend (or co-worker, colleague) for a position using a simple form. Like other refer-a-friend features, this would share the referred person’s information with the business offering the job, giving the recruiters an opportunity to follow up, while also sending them an email to invite them to visit the job posting.
The problem occurs when the referred user’s data is used, without their express consent, to a: be processed by the offeror’s website to generate an email, b: be used to track the referred user if/when they visit the site, and c: be contacted by an agent of the offeror for follow up.
A web site operator is obligated to get a user’s express consent before their data is collected or used under the rules of many privacy laws, including GDPR. While the extension was released at a time after-GDPR but before the patchwork of look-alike laws in various USA states and other countries, we justified its release based on customer demand while we made a note to warn EU users that the extension was not-GDPR compliant.
That said, in the last two-and-one-half years, a flood of new of user privacy laws from all around the world has made the list of “okay” places to use this feature smaller and smaller.
We cannot responsibly allow this feature to be released to new users moving forward. We are therefore removing it from our website.
Leads features to be re-relased
This extension also created customized “contact us” forms that site operators could use to solicit new hiring company’s business. This feature, while polar opposite of the refer-a-friend feature, was programmatically similar to the refer-a-friend features, and therefore we kept the two in one neat package. This “Leads” feature, however, does not run afoul of privacy laws.
In an upcoming release, we will introduce a new All-Access Plugin that will restore this functionality for Bullhorn Enterprise users. In the meanwhile, if you are a Bullhorn Enterprise user who wants to accept leads information from potential clients, please let us know and we can share the old extension with the expectation you will not use the refer-a-friend features.