Data Retention and Deletion Policy
This policy explains how long SpellJob keeps each category of information and how it is deleted.
Retention schedule
| Information | Where it is held | How long | How it is deleted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account record (email, hashed password, account type, optional name, timestamps) | Website database | Until you delete your account | Self-service deletion in Account settings, or automatically by our scheduled clean-up |
| Saved jobs | Website database | Until you remove them or delete your account (maximum 200 per account) | Removed with your account |
| Recently viewed jobs | Website database | Only your 20 most recent; you can clear them at any time | Older entries are overwritten automatically |
| Password-reset links | Website database (as a one-way hash) | Expire after 60 minutes | Deleted by scheduled clean-up |
| Job alerts (email and criteria) | Website database | Until you unsubscribe or delete your account | Unsubscribing deletes the alert immediately |
| Temporary CV files | Private server folder | Seconds – deleted immediately after the email is sent or fails. Any file left by a server fault is removed within one hour | Overwritten and deleted |
| CVs and profiles emailed to SpellJob | SpellJob mailbox and team tools | Up to 12 months after our last contact with you, unless you ask us to delete them sooner | Manual deletion by our team; also on account deletion or erasure request |
| Submission and email delivery logs (no personal details) | Website database | Submission log: 90 days. Email log: 90 days | Scheduled clean-up |
| Sales enquiries | Website database and mailbox | 365 days | Scheduled clean-up; admins can delete earlier |
| Contact and privacy requests | Mailbox only | Up to 2 years, so we can show how each request was handled | Manual |
| Employer company profiles and listings | Website database | Until the employer deletes their account. Listings stop showing when they expire or are closed | Removed with the account |
| Cached job listings from job sources (no personal data) | Website database / cache | Up to 24 hours, or until the listing's closing date if sooner | Scheduled clean-up |
| Security rate-limit records (hashed, no raw IP or email) | Website database | Minutes to hours – until the limit window ends | Scheduled clean-up |
| Application and error logs (personal details masked) | Server | 30 days | Scheduled clean-up |
| Backups | Our hosting provider's secure storage | Up to 30 days | Deleted data remains in backups until they expire, and is not restored except for disaster recovery |
Deleting your account
When you delete your account we immediately remove your account record, saved jobs, recently viewed jobs, job alerts, security tokens and – for employers – your company profile, listings and application records. We email our team asking them to delete any CV or profile submissions held in our mailbox, and we email you to confirm. Because the sign-in record is removed, a deleted account cannot be recovered.
Exceptions
We may keep information for longer where the law requires it, or where it is needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We will tell you if this applies when you make a request.