Effective: October 26, 2023

Introduction and Scope

BlackBerry is a group of companies with offices and employees located around the world.  We are committed to the principles of fair and transparent data processing and protecting the personal data of BlackBerry applicants in accordance with applicable laws.  This Applicant Privacy Notice (“Notice”) describes how BlackBerry collects and processes your personal data for the purpose of facilitating BlackBerry's recruitment activities as well as for global talent management planning purposes.

This Notice applies to all prospective employees, applicants, and candidates in relation to any work, employment, internship, and other job opportunities with BlackBerry.  It also provides details on your personal data rights and how to exercise your privacy rights with BlackBerry. 

In this Notice, “Processing”, “Processes", or “Process” means BlackBerry’s collection, use, transfer, storage, and disclosure of your personal data. 

This Notice covers the following topics:

1. Personal data we collect and our purposes
2. Who we share your personal data with
3. Legal basis for Processing
4. International data transfers
5. Data retention
6. Your rights over your personal data
7. Additional disclosures for California residents
8. Security
9. Updates to this Notice
10. How to contact us

Personal data we collect directly from you

BlackBerry collects and Processes personal data from prospective employees through our recruitment activities, such as when you apply for a role or attend in-person or online meetings. You can use your personal data from a third-party career site, such as LinkedIn or Seek, to apply for a role at BlackBerry. Doing so will connect your profile from the third-party career site to your job application.

Personal data we receive from third parties

We typically collect personal data directly from you, but there may be situations where we collect personal data from other sources. Additional personal data is generated during your application, for example, by recruiting teams and BlackBerry systems.

We may collect the following information from third parties:

• Information provided by organizations you have engaged to support you finding a job, including recruiting agencies, educational institutions, professional organizations, or alumni resume sharing platforms.
• Information provided by BlackBerry personnel who have referred you for an open position.
• Information provided by contacts you provide in response to reference requests.
• Information provided by third parties engaged to evaluate your skills and aptitude.
• Information collected from publicly available sources, including any business, professional, or social media platforms you use or other relevant information available online.
• Information provided by background checking agencies, including criminal background checks and credit checks, where permitted under applicable law. We may also receive information about security clearance checks if the position you are applying for involves working with customers who require a security clearance, such as government agencies.
• Information provided by potential target companies that may join BlackBerry through a merger, acquisition, or purchase of assets.

The table below provides a summary of the typical recruitment purposes, examples of the personal data, and the legal bases for the processing under applicable law. 

Use of sensitive personal data

The definition of sensitive personal data varies based on your jurisdiction but may include any information that reveals your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs; and data concerning your health, sexual orientation, trade-union membership, biometric data, and criminal history; and your precise geolocation.

We do not collect or process any sensitive personal data about you unless it’s necessary to operate our business, for legitimate employment-related purposes, or where otherwise permitted by, or necessary to comply with, applicable laws. For example, information about your racial or ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disabilities may be collected for the purposes of assessing, creating, and cultivating a diverse and inclusive work environment, compliance with equal employment opportunity obligations, or complying with anti-discrimination laws and government or associated reporting obligations.

Information that we collect automatically

When you visit the BlackBerry Careers site, we use cookies and other tracking technologies that are necessary to operate the site and that allow you to apply for a position using third-party career sites.

For more information about the cookies we use, please review the BlackBerry Applicant Site Cookie Notice.

Aggregating and analyzing personal data

BlackBerry may de-identify, aggregate, or anonymize your personal data for BlackBerry’s internal business purposes. This may include using information in de-identified reports, analyzing, and presenting summaries for you in tools and/or for BlackBerry management in order to consider trends and people strategies for the workforce, or third-party learning opportunities. Aggregation may involve the de-identified information from other BlackBerry applicants or personnel and where relevant, comparing aggregated and pooled data with past or future personnel information, responses, industry benchmarks, and comparisons as well as relevant advice or research.

Successful applicants

If you accept a role at BlackBerry, the information collected during the recruitment process may form part of your personnel file or profile and will be processed in accordance with our Employee Privacy Notice, which will be provided to you upon hire.

BlackBerry takes care to only allow access or disclosure of personal data to authorized personnel, service providers or other third parties as required to perform their legitimate tasks and duties and in line with the purposes outlined above.

We will only disclose your personal data to the following categories of recipients:

• Personnel within BlackBerry subsidiaries located around the world to enable the recruitment processes, including managers, administrators, interviewers, and our Employee Relations teams.

• Background-checking or other employment screening providers and third parties that verify employment history, academic and professional achievements, and assist with the collection and preparation of applications for security clearances for relevant projects, when necessary.

• Third-party service providers that support BlackBerry's recruitment process, such as recruitment or executive search agencies and third-party survey tool providers designated by BlackBerry.

• Third parties such as courts, regulators, tribunals, or professional advisers to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations or address legal matters, including where necessary to abide by law, regulation or contract, or to respond to a court order, administrative, or judicial process.

• Third parties as necessary to establish, exercise, or defend against potential, threatened, or actual litigation.

• Public authorities and their authorized agents in response to lawful requests.

• Third parties where you have consented or otherwise instructed BlackBerry to share your personal data.

BlackBerry personnel authorized to access or discuss personal data must comply with confidentiality, privacy, and security policy requirements.

We will implement appropriate measures to provide assurance that third-party organizations that we use to process data on our behalf use information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Statement and with applicable law, and that the security and confidentiality of your information is maintained. This is in addition to the privacy and security obligations applicable to the third party in connection with their processing. Third-party recipients may have their own privacy statements outlining their approach, which you may wish to review.  BlackBerry utilizes Workday, a cloud-based software vendor that specializes in human capital management, as a recruitment platform and is a trusted third-party service provider and data processor to BlackBerry. 

BlackBerry does not “sell” to third parties, or “share” with third parties for targeted advertising purposes, the personal data that it collects or processes as part of the recruitment, employment, or personnel management process or any related processes (including as those terms are defined under the California Privacy Rights Act).

If you, or the BlackBerry role you are applying for, are located in the EU, European Economic Area, Switzerland or the UK, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal data as described in this Notice falls into the following categories under applicable law. The legal basis will depend on the information concerned and the specific context and purposes for which we collect it.

• Legitimate Interest: We and our third parties process personal data for recruitment, employment, and corporate legitimate interests of BlackBerry with consideration given to individual privacy impacts. The legitimate interests for BlackBerry and third parties include administering an efficient recruitment process, managing and assessing applicants effectively, and BlackBerry’s interests to reconnect with talented individuals about future opportunities. We will not rely on this ground when our interests are overridden by your interests, fundamental rights and freedoms.

• Performance of a Contract: We process personal data to perform our obligations under an agreement we have with you or are taking necessary steps prior to entering an employment contract with you when you are being considered for employment. For example, we use your personal data to make you a job offer or complete a contract of employment or services with you.

• Other Legal Bases: In some cases, we may have a legal obligation to process your personal data, such as in response to a court or regulator order. We also may need to process your personal data to protect the vital interests or yourself or another individual, or to exercise, establish, or defend legal claims.

• Consent: In some cases, we ask you for your consent to process your personal data for specific activities. You can withdraw your consent at any time, which will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent was withdrawn. If you would like to withdraw your consent, you can do so by contacting us as described in the “How to contact us” section below. In some cases, such as background checks, you may also need to advise the third-party service provider of a consent withdrawal.

When personal data is required

BlackBerry will inform you if there is a legal or recruitment business requirement to provide personal data. Generally, we will ask for what is reasonably necessary. If you are unable to provide the requisite information, we will explain the consequences or delays in respect of your applications. BlackBerry considers the various lawful bases available and the most suitable under applicable law. 

Where BlackBerry or a third party seeks consent for certain processing purposes in accordance with applicable law, you should not feel obliged to provide this because consent, where it is required for a specific processing initiative or activity, is a voluntary ground.

We may have additional lawful bases and grounds where sensitive personal data is processed.

BlackBerry operates as a global business and may process prospect and candidate personal data in countries where:

• We are recruiting for certain talent and roles.

• You have applied for a job.

• BlackBerry, its recruiters, managers, or BlackBerry subcontractors, customers, or relevant third-party recipients have operations.

BlackBerry is headquartered and conducts its global business from Canada. We will process your personal data in Canada and other countries outside the EU, European Economic Area, UK, and Switzerland. BlackBerry may store your personal data outside of the geographic area where you reside for the purpose of BlackBerry personnel evaluating and selecting applicants for potential employment.  This may include activities such as scheduling and conducting interviews and contacting references or past employers you provided in your application.  

Privacy laws where your personal data is processed and stored may be different from where you live. For such transfers, we take appropriate safeguards to protect your personal data, fundamental rights and freedoms, and the exercise of your rights in accordance with applicable law by ensuring:

• That the recipient country provides an adequate level of data protection based on the European Commission’s adequacy decisions pursuant to Article 45 of the GDPR (e.g., Canada); or

• We enter into “standard contractual clauses” approved by the European Commission in its Implementing Decision as referred to in Article 46 of the GDPR or competent UK authority, as applicable, with the third party.

Where applicable, we implement additional contractual, technical, and organizational measures to ensure that your personal data transferred outside of Europe is subject to an essentially equivalent level of protection.

BlackBerry’s third-party service providers must comply with applicable privacy laws and the approved transfer safeguards to protect your personal data in any country where they process personal data.

BlackBerry securely stores and retains your personal data as long as needed to fulfill our legitimate business purposes, including those described in this Notice and in accordance with applicable laws. Our practice is to keep personal data for a reasonable period:

• Following a recruitment process and our hiring decision to respond to potential legal, compliance, or complaints involving BlackBerry operations; and 

• To keep you informed of future vacancies and maintain accurate records of your preferences.

You can update your preferences regarding future contact from BlackBerry at any time. You can also delete your profile from the BlackBerry Career Site by clicking “Delete My Information” under “Account Settings”. Under certain circumstances, BlackBerry may have a legitimate interest in retaining candidate data even when the requester asks for deletion.

Depending on where you are located, you may have certain legal rights over personal data we hold about you. These include the right to:

• Obtain access to your personal data that is being processed by us, have inaccurate personal data corrected, and request the deletion of your personal data.

• Object to the processing of your personal data carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests.

• Ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data.

• Request the portability of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format if the processing is carried out on the basis of consent or a personal contract.

• Withdraw your consent at any time, if we have collected and processed your personal data for a specific activity based on your consent. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your personal data conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

• Lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence, your place of work, or the registered office of the controller. You may also request the details of your competent supervisory authority by using the contact details below in the “How to Contact Us” section.

We may require you to provide additional information so we can verify and authenticate your identity when exercising your rights.

BlackBerry will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights. We will explain how the rights mentioned above operate in a given situation, including:

• If the right and its availability differ in your location or because of the legal basis for the processing activity or BlackBerry’s prevailing processing needs.

• How the rights of others interact with a specific request.

BlackBerry does not make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects as part of the recruitment processing activities covered by this Notice.

You, or an authorized individual who we can verify is acting on your behalf, can exercise the applicable rights by contacting us using the information provided at the bottom of this Notice. If you can provide details of your concern, this may assist BlackBerry expedite the response. In any event, we will respond without undue delay and keep you updated. In Europe, this is usually within one month of your request.

For California residents, this section supplements the information shared in this Notice.

Your rights under California law

• Right to Know. If you are a California resident, you have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal data.

• Right to Delete. You have the right to request that we delete some or all the personal data we have pertaining to you. Once we receive your request and confirm your identity, we will then delete your personal data from our records, unless a lawful basis exists to retain it. We may deny your deletion request if we are unable to verify your identity or if we are not required to delete your personal data under the CCPA.

• Right to Correct Inaccurate Personal Data. You have the right to request that we correct any of the personal data that we maintain about you.

• Right to Non-Discrimination. BlackBerry values the security and privacy of its prospective employees and will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your California Law rights. If you exercise certain rights, understand that you may be unable to use or access certain features of BlackBerry’s recruitment platform. Unless permitted by applicable law, we will not: (i) deny you goods or services; (ii) charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties; (iii) provide you a different level or quality of goods or services; or (iv) suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services. However, we will deny your request if (i) we cannot verify your identity or (ii) the disclosure creates a substantial, articulable, and unreasonable risk to the security of your personal data, your account with us, or the security of BlackBerry’s systems or infrastructure.

In addition to many of the rights described above, California residents have the right to opt out of a business’s sale of your personal data or sharing of your personal data to third parties for targeted advertising. BlackBerry does not sell your personal data or share your personal data with third parties for targeted advertising. BlackBerry also does not use your sensitive personal data for any purpose other than to operate our business, for legitimate recruitment-related purposes, or where otherwise permitted by, or necessary to comply with, applicable laws, and therefore does not provide a right to limit the use of sensitive personal data.  We may disclose certain personal data, such as your first and last name, employee identification number, email address, bank account details, job title/position, and other similar contact data, financial information, and employment details with our subsidiaries, affiliates and other third parties, including service providers who provide services on behalf of BlackBerry.

Exercising Your California Law Rights

You do not need to create an account with us to exercise your California Law privacy rights. To exercise the rights described above, please submit a consumer request to us by emailing privacyoffice@blackberry.com.

To exercise your right to know, delete, or correct your personal data as described above, we need to verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal data relates to you. We will not provide you with personal data if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal data relates to you. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. We use personal data provided in a verifiable consumer request solely to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.

These requests may be made only by you, your parent, guardian (if you are under 18 years or age), conservator, a person to whom you have given power of attorney pursuant to California Probate Code sections 4000 to 4465, or an authorized agent. As permitted under California Law, we may request that an individual submitting a request on behalf of a consumer submit proof that they are an authorized agent of the subject consumer, as well as verify the consumer’s identity. To protect your personal data, we reserve the right to deny a request from an agent that does not submit adequate proof that you authorized them to act for you.

We are only required to respond to a verifiable consumer Right to Know request twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must provide sufficient information to allow us to verify you (or an authorized agent) are the person about whom we collected personal data.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Once we have verified a request from a California resident, we will confirm receipt of the request within 10 days and explain how we will process the request. We will then respond to the request within 45 days. We may require an additional 45 days (for a total of 90 days) to process your request, but in those situations, we will provide you a response and explanation for the reason it will take more than 45 days to respond to the request. Our responses will include required information under California Law.

We maintain appropriate security arrangements. We use technical, organizational, and contractual measures to provide a level of security aiming to protect personal data against incidents and the risks involved.

Please note security of information transmitted through the internet can never be guaranteed. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your password or other form of authentication involved in accessing password-protected or secured areas of any BlackBerry Careers web page. Access to and use of password-protected and/or secure areas of any BlackBerry Careers web pages is restricted to authorized users only.

We may update this Notice from time to time in response to changing legal, technical, or business developments. When we update this Notice, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make.

You can see when this Notice was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the top of this Notice.

If you have any questions about this Notice, wish to exercise your rights or to contact our Data Protection Officer, you may contact us by email at privacyoffice@blackberry.com or by sending mail to one of the addresses below: