Last updated 10 July 2026 · OffBench is operated by Herts Health Consulting
1. Who we are
OffBench is operated by Herts Health Consulting ("we", "us"), which is
the data controller for the personal data described in this notice. We are
registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Account detailsEmail address, and either a securely hashed password or a Google account identifier if you sign in with Google.
Your CV / LinkedIn text / career summaryWhatever you paste or upload during setup — stored as you provided it, used to build your matching profile.
Your matching profileA structured, weighted list of roles, skills, domains and qualifications derived from your CV text — plus any regulated professional credentials our system detects you hold (e.g. a professional registration), used to judge whether a job's requirements match your background.
Home locationWhatever you enter (a town, or a postcode for more accurate results) — used only to estimate travel time to job listings.
Feedback on listings you removeThe reason you select and any free text you add when dismissing a job — used to refine your future matches.
Job search results and manually-added listingsThe scored results we build for you, and anything you add by hand (e.g. something you spotted on LinkedIn).
Technical dataYour session cookie (needed to keep you logged in — see Cookies) and standard server request logs.
3. How we use it, and our lawful basis
To provide the matching service you've signed up for — building your profile, searching job sources, scoring results, estimating travel time. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you (our terms of service).
To improve your matching over time based on the listings you dismiss and the feedback you give. Same basis: performance of a contract.
For the optional AI-assisted matching layer — see section 4. Lawful basis: your consent, which you give (or withhold) during setup and can change at any time in Settings.
To keep the service secure and working — basic request logs, error monitoring. Lawful basis: legitimate interests (running a functioning, secure service), balanced against your privacy — logs are kept only briefly (see Retention) and aren't used for any other purpose.
We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell it to anyone.
4. The AI matching layer Consent-based
OffBench can optionally use an AI model to analyse your CV and assess how well specific
job listings fit you — this gives more accurate judgements of seniority and sector fit than
keyword matching alone, with a plain-English reason for each score.
This is off by default unless you tick the consent box during setup, and you
can switch it on or off at any time from the Settings tab. When it's off, your CV and job
data are processed only by our own rule-based matcher, entirely on our server, and nothing
is sent to any AI provider.
When it's on: an extract of your CV, your derived profile summary, your stated location, your
recent feedback on dismissed listings, and short extracts of shortlisted job descriptions are
sent to our AI provider for assessment. We route this through OpenRouter to
Azure OpenAI, configured for zero data retention — the
provider does not store your inputs/outputs after generating a response, and does not use
them to train any model.
Turning this off will reduce match accuracy — the rule-based matcher can't judge seniority or
sector fit the way the AI layer does — but it means your data never leaves this server.
5. Who we share it with
OpenRouter → Azure OpenAI — only if you've consented to AI-assisted matching (section 4).
Google — only if you choose to sign in with Google; used solely to authenticate you, nothing else.
postcodes.io and OpenStreetMap/Nominatim — receive location text (e.g. your postcode) to estimate coordinates for travel-time calculations. These are location-lookup services, not linked back to your identity.
Reed, Adzuna, NHS Jobs, and company job-board APIs — receive only fixed, industry-level search terms (e.g. "programme director", "civil service") that are the same for every user. Nothing derived from your CV, your location, or any other personal detail is sent to any job board — matching against your profile happens entirely on our server.
Our hosting provider — hosts the infrastructure the service runs on, under a data processing agreement, and does not use your data for any purpose of its own.
Neon (database hosting) — stores your account record and the documents that make up your use of the service (CV text, profile, settings, scan results) in a managed Postgres database hosted in the UK/EU, under a data processing agreement. Neon does not use your data for any purpose of its own.
We never share your data with recruiters, employers, or any other third party for their own marketing or recruitment purposes.
6. International transfers
Most of your data stays on infrastructure located in the UK/EU. Where the AI layer is used
(section 4), a limited extract is processed by Azure OpenAI, which may involve transfer to
the US. This is covered by Microsoft's standard contractual protections for that service and
the zero-data-retention configuration described above.
7. How long we keep it
Account and profile data: kept while your account is active. If your account is inactive for 12 months, we'll email a warning before deleting it.
Server request logs: kept for 30 days, then deleted.
Shared location cache (place names → coordinates, not linked to your identity): purged periodically, at least annually.
You can ask us to delete your account and all associated data at any time — see Your rights.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
Access the personal data we hold about you.
Rectify anything inaccurate — most of your profile is directly editable from "My profile".
Erase your data ("right to be forgotten") — email us and we'll delete your account and everything in it.
Export your data in a portable format.
Object to or restrict certain processing, including withdrawing AI consent at any time (section 4).
Complain to the ICO if you're unhappy with how we've handled your data — see Complaints.
Our matching doesn't need — and we ask you not to include — information about your health,
ethnicity, religion, or other special-category data, or other people's contact details (e.g.
references). Please keep your CV to career-relevant content.
10. Cookies
We use a single session cookie, strictly necessary to keep you logged in
while you use the service. We don't use analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies of any
kind — so there's no cookie banner, because none of our cookies require your consent under
UK PECR rules.
11. Children
OffBench is a professional career-matching tool and is not directed at, or intended for use by, children under 18.
12. Changes to this notice
If we make material changes to how we handle your data, we'll update this page and change
the "last updated" date above. For significant changes, we'll also notify you directly.
13. Complaints
If you have concerns about how we've handled your data, please contact us first at
josh@hertshealthconsulting.com so we can
try to put it right. You also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the UK
supervisory authority: