Social Media Checks – Frequently Asked Questions
Social Media Check – Frequently Asked Questions
Our FAQs are designed to address your questions, demystify the process, and help you make informed decisions.
Dive in and let us guide you through the world of Social Media Checks.
Our FAQs are designed to address your questions, demystify the process, and help you make informed decisions. Dive in and let us guide you through the world of Social Media Checks.
FAQ
SP Index is the only fully complaint Online Social Profiling company in the UK. We never breach an individualās privacy. We will only look into content found within an individualās public digital footprint. This is content that has usually been placed online in public domain by the individual themselves. We never extract, reproduce or replicate any content whatsoever during the profiling process. Our reports are completely objective with no consideration or weighting given to protected characteristics at any time. SP Index profiling protects candidates from discrimination by ensuring recruiting companies remain compliant throughout the recruitment process and alleviates the temptation for companies to carry out their own web search which can violate individualās privacy and in many cases breach the Equality Act 2010.
SP Index profiling removes the risk of discrimination that is prevalent when companies carry out their own online searches. The Equality Act 2010 prevents employers asking about protected characteristics that include sexual orientation, age, disability, gender, marital status, gender reassignment, pregnancy, race and religion. When an employer sees these protected characteristics on an individualās profile they put themselves at risk of making subjective decisions which can lead to poor recruitment decisions.
Before our human researchers carry out their research they must first complete our strict verification and integrity checks. These checks use a combination of data to cross reference an individualās online digital footprint so that we can be 100% sure of the accuracy of our reports. These sophisticated matrix search techniques ensure that we can produce more accurate results, more quickly and in more detail than any other online employee checks.
An individualās data is not held by the SP Index for longer than is necessary. The type of data which we temporarily hold for research purposes is limited to that which is usually provided within a traditional job application process or on a CV. No special character data (e.g. bank account details) is used or held by us.
The results of each completed profile is retained by us within our Index databases solely for the purpose of maintaining a market benchmark and providing social people data analysis. Any personal details which we may have used during our research such as name, address, DOB is regularly purged from our systems in order to provide complete and permanent anonymity within our Index data.
The SP Index (Social Media Consulting Ltd) is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissionerās Office (ICO) and complies with all guidelines set out under the UK Data Protection Act.
SP Index carries out Online Social Profiling in order to assess an individualās online cognitive style across a wide digital footprint. A digital footprint includes much more than the just most recognised sites such as Facebook, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and includes all other website onto which an individual has constructed a public profile. This may include publicly available information provided on websites such as Amazon, E-bay, Blogger, Livestream, You Tube and many more. The online landscape for our research is the entire worldwide web and we establish historic behavioural traits across a wide variety of sites in order to establish online cognitive style. Personal dating sites are not included in our research.
SP Index research and experiences shows that the vast majority in the UK has at least some reference online whether it is produced by them or by third parties. In the unlikely event that our researchers are unable to discover any online presence of an individual then our reports clearly highlight this fact. We may ask the company or individual to verify any data provided to us.
No. Turnaround time to deliver completed reports is between 2-5 working days and for more urgent requirements during a recruitment campaign we work together with our customers in order to meet these requirements.
When you become an SP Index customer you will be given secure access to our web portal. This is accessible via our website and no investment in hardware or any other software is necessary.
SP Index services start at Ā£25.00 per check, but vary in price based on type of report , volumes ordered and the combination of our services that are right for your business. For a tailored quote for your business please contact us 0800 468 1688
Carrying out your own online searches is time consuming, unreliable, likely to be inaccurate and in many cases breaches legislation designed to protect both your prospective employees and your business from legal issues. By using a compliant service from SP Index you can implement a fair and legal online search into your decision making process without risk of breaching any UK legislation.
Google searching is quick but reading and clicking into hundreds of different sites to identify an individual accurately is impractical, inefficient and is likely to give inconsistent results. SP Index has developed sophisticated searching techniques to accurately locate information quickly. A simple google search will not generate all combinations of results in the same way our researchers can.
SP Index looks into the online behavioural style and trends found within an individualās digital footprint. We only report on what is found online. Traditional pre-employment checks such as DBS, Credit Checks and references can be used to compliment and offer additional understanding of an individual. SP Index does not replace traditional checking because we concentrate on different pools of information.
In the event an employer makes an adverse decision on an individual based on the results of an SP Index report, we recommend that the employer openly shares the report with the candidate and discusses the impact of the results. SP Index acts as a data processor and although we have provisions in place for subject access requests we advise candidates to contact the employer directly to resolve any queries.
For a explanation of the value these reports and the benefit to your business please contact us. You can use the contact form on the right of this page or call 0800 468 1688.
SP Index can offer proven, tangible return on investment for all customers. The main areas our clients see ROI are reduced attrition levels, reduced recruitment costs, saved time, saved money, improved online identity of brand and services, and reduced risk of tribunal costs linked to social media misuse.
All companies have slightly different processes, some carry out pre-employment checks in-house, some outsource at offer stage to dedicated partners. SP Index is able to fit with any organisations current processes. In all cases we are able to add value to existing processes.
A social media policy is a company policy that clearly defines which is acceptable and unacceptable use of social media by its employees. In order to have a policy that is relevant to your workforce you can seek advice from one of our experts or you can enrol onto one of our workshops.
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