Credit Karma Applicant Privacy Notice

Version: 2.0
Date adopted: January 1, 2023

Credit Karma was built upon a singular mission — to make financial progress possible for everyone. So far, we’ve done this with free access to credit scores, reports, personalized credit offers, and other tools and education. But many of the opportunities that lay ahead are still unknown. So are you up for the challenge? 

We’re excited that you’ve made it this far! This privacy notice provides information about how Credit Karma, LLC and its affiliates (“Credit Karma”) collect and process personal information about job applicants like yourself (excluding applicants who reside outside of the United States and Canada). Should you become a Credit Karma employee, you will also be subject to Credit Karma’s employee privacy notice.

  1. WE COLLECT THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Information We May Collect Directly From You: 

  • Name and contact details: This is basic personal data about you, and how to get in touch with you. It includes your current home address, email address and telephone number, among other things.
  • Right to work in the US: You will be asked to provide relevant documentation for us to check eligibility both at the application stage, and if you commence employment with us, to repeat those checks at intervals throughout the employment relationship.
  • Other application details: Your resume, or CV, and previous work history including work references, qualifications including educational details (e.g., educational history, certifications, skills), and where applicable, professional memberships, your reasons for applying and suitability for the position, and other details you provide in the application form, during the application process, or during interview(s).
  • Demographic or other information you may voluntarily provide us when you submit your application (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and/or veteran status). This personal information will not be used in the hiring decision.
  • Vaccination status where applicable and permitted by law.

Information We May Collect During the Interview Process

 

  • Your photograph for identification purposes during the onsite interview process.
  • Footage captured by on-premise CCTV devices.
  • Transcripts, recordings, and/or screenshots of interviews or hiring exercises that could capture your image or voice, where you have provided your consent.

Information We May Collect About You From Other Sources:

  • Criminal records and background and credit check information, including information from your professional references (as allowed by law). In some circumstances we will use a third party service provider to verify the personal information you submit in the course of your application, including through reference checks and where applicable, background checks as described above. 
  • Publicly available professional profiles on websites or social media (e.g., LinkedIn).
  • Information about your performance or conduct from references or clients or service providers you worked with and who may provide feedback about you.
  • Information about your relationship with previous employers, including prior work experience.
  • Your CV or resume from third parties that may provide it to us, such as recruitment firms.

 

2. WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT FOR THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES

This section explains the purposes for which we collect and process personal data about you. We respect your privacy, so how we use your personal data will depend on the stage of the application process.

To Manage the Recruitment Process:

  • To identify and source qualified candidates, including from social media platforms (such as LinkedIn), where permitted by law. 
  • To make sure we attribute our records and any employee checks to the correct person.
  • To send you information about other positions within Credit Karma in accordance with your preferences. 
  • To communicate with you and (on a need to know basis) relevant CK personnel involved in the recruitment process, and relevant third parties. 
  • To record and demonstrate how we have conducted the application and recruitment process and arrived at our decision regarding your application. 
  • To deal with your inquiries and requests.
  • To operate, evaluate, and improve the application platform and recruitment processes.
  • To ensure that our hiring aligns with our goals of building a diverse workplace and promoting diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunities.

For Employment Screening Checks If We Decide to Make You an Offer of Employment: 

  • These checks will be carried out if you’re offered the position and will depend on the role you’ve applied for. Completion of these checks will require you to present certain documentation or provide additional details, and may require acknowledgement from you. Further details will be provided with any offer of employment. Checks may include identity verification, your employment and educational references, your qualifications, your credit file, as well as criminal record and fraud prevention checks. 

For Providing Disability-Related or Other Accommodations (As Applicable or Required by Law):

  • To evaluate potential reasonable accommodations for disability-related or other needs throughout the recruitment process and, if your application is successful, to prepare for you commencing employment. 

For Legal and Regulatory Purposes:

To comply with the law, we may need to do things like:

  • Checking your right to work in the US.
  • Respond to and defend any legal claims that may arise out of the recruitment process.
  • Provide information to law enforcement agencies to comply with our legal obligations, or of our own choice where we consider there is a compelling reason to do so to protect our employees, visitors, our customers (or their customers), or our general business interests.

 

  1. WE DO NOT SELL OR SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION BUT MAY DISCLOSE IT FOR VALID BUSINESS PURPOSES

 

Credit Karma does not sell your personal information or share it with third parties for marketing purposes. Credit Karma may disclose your personal information for various business purposes, as described below:

 

  • To Vendors and Service Providers that Provide Services to Us: Credit Karma may share your personal information with service providers to assist with recruiting, human resources, workplace services, or other business functions. While we may share your personal information with these service providers, these vendors agree to data privacy safeguards set forth by Credit Karma. 


  • In Response to Legal Requests: Credit Karma may share your personal information with law enforcement and government or regulatory agencies who request it, if we reasonably believe the provided information will be permitted in order to comply with a court order, subpoena, or other applicable law or regulation. 


  • To Protect Credit Karma Services and Customers: Credit Karma may share your personal information if we believe that it is necessary to protect our intellectual property, or the safety of our employees, customers, and others. 


  • Sale of Business or Merger: In the event that Credit Karma is involved in any merger, sale, liquidation, bankruptcy, or acquisition of all or part of our business to another entity, we may share your information with that company and its relevant advisors during the course of the transaction. 


  • Deidentified Data: Credit Karma may share your personal information in a form which cannot be used to individually identify you, such as in de-identified or aggregate form for purposes such as benchmarking and reporting. 
    Category of Personal Information Category of Sources from which the Personal Data is Collected Purpose of Collection Category of Third Parties which CK Discloses Personal Data for Business Purposes Category of Third Parties to whom Personal Data is Sold Category of Third Parties to whom Personal Information is Shared
    Personal Identifiers Directly from worker See Section 2, “We Use Your Information for the following Purposes” Benefits Administrators

    Service Providers

    		 N/A. We do not sell Personal Information. N/A. We do not share this personal information.
    Protected Classifications Directly from worker Service Providers

    Government Agencies
    Employment, Education and other Background Information Directly from worker

    Public forums (e.g. social media)

    		 Service Providers
  1. WE RETAIN YOUR DATA FOR AS LONG AS THERE IS A BUSINESS OR LEGAL PURPOSE

Credit Karma may retain your personal data for as long as there is a business, compliance, or legal obligation to do so, in accordance with internal data retention policies and/or applicable law. 

  1. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS  

If you are a California resident, your data rights include: 

  • Right to Know: The right to know what categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we collect, the purposes for which we collect Personal Information, the sources from which we collect Personal Information, and whether Personal Information is disclosed, sold, or shared with third parties.
  • Right to Delete: The right to request deletion of your personal information held by Credit Karma, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Correction: The right to request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete Personal Information.
  • Right to Opt-Out: The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, and the right to opt out of automated-decision making technology.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: The right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your rights.
  • Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: The right to limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive Personal Information.

 

To exercise your personal data rights under CPRA, please email your request to CPRAWorkerRequests@creditkarma.com. Requests must be submitted by you or an authorized agent acting on your behalf. Authorized agents must be registered with the Secretary of State in California to conduct business in California and provide written authorization to act on your behalf. 

 

In order to process your request, you may be asked to verify your identity, including by providing government issued identification or specific pieces of personal information. Requests sent on behalf of an employee using their Credit Karma email address will be considered verified requests. If Credit Karma is unable to verify your identity, your request may be denied. 

Please note that the above enumerated personal data rights may be limited by Credit Karma’s legal obligations and data retention policies. While Credit Karma will strive to fulfill your personal data requests, there may be instances in which requests are denied (in whole or in part) due to business or legal exceptions recognized under CPRA.