Job Applicants and Candidates Privacy Notice
Last Updated Date: 01.07.2026
Introduction
Ascend GmbH (“Ascend”, “Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), a subsidiary of Alkem Laboratories Limited, India, and based in Germany, is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) (“GDPR”) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz – BDSG).
This Job Applicants and Candidates Privacy Notice (“Notice”) applies to individuals who apply for employment or engagement opportunities with Ascend, including prospective employees, interns, trainees, apprentices, temporary workers, and other candidates (collectively, “Applicants”, “Candidates”, or “you”) who submit applications, résumés, or other information to us, or otherwise participate in our recruitment and selection processes.
Ascend acts as the controller of your personal data and determines the purposes and means of processing in connection with recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and related employment activities.
This Notice describes how Ascend collects, receives, stores, uses, discloses, shares, transfers, and otherwise processes personal data of Job Applicants and Candidates (“Applicant Personal Data”) in connection with its recruitment and employment-related activities.
Contents
- Contact Details
- Which Personal Data is collected and processed by Ascend GmbH?
- For what purpose and on what legal basis does Ascend GmbH use your Personal Data?
- Disclosure and Sharing of Applicant Personal Data
- Transfer of Applicant Personal Data outside the EEA
- Retention of Applicant Personal Data
- Security Practices and Procedures
- Your Rights in connection with your Personal Data
- Changes to this Privacy Notice
1. Contact Details
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or your personal data, you can contact us at:
Email: privacy@ascend-de.eu.
Postal Address:
Ascend GmbH
Sebastian-Kneipp-Straße 41
60439 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
2. Which Personal Data is collected and processed by Ascend GmbH?
Ascend may collect, hold, use, and process the following categories of Applicant Personal Data, including but not limited to:
i) Identity and Contact Data
- Full Name
- Residential Address
- Date of Birth
- Gender (where voluntarily provided or legally required)
- Telephone Number
- Email Address
- Nationality
- Business Contact Details
ii) Employment and Recruitment Data
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) / Résumé
- Employment History
- Educational Qualifications
- Professional Certifications
- Skills and Competencies
- References and Reference Check Information
- Interview Notes and Assessment Results
- Application Records and Correspondence
- Work Authorization and Immigration Status (where applicable)
iii) Financial Data
- Salary Expectations
- Compensation History (where permitted by law)
- Bank Account Details (for successful candidates during onboarding)
- Payroll and Benefits Information
iv) Government Identification Data
- Tax Identification Number
- Social Security Information
- Passport Information
- National Identity Documentation
- Work Permit or Residence Permit Information
v) Health and Special Category Data
Where necessary, lawful, and proportionate, Ascend may process limited health-related or special category personal data, including:
- Fitness-for-work information
- Disability accommodation information
- Occupational health information
- Other health-related information required under employment, social security, or occupational safety laws
Such data will only be processed where permitted under Article 9 GDPR and applicable German law.
3. For what purpose and on what legal basis does Ascend GmbH use your Personal Data?
3.1 Purposes of Processing
Ascend processes Applicant Personal Data only for specified, legitimate, and employment-related purposes, including:
Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
- To identify, attract, and recruit suitable candidates.
- To assess applications, qualifications, skills, and experience.
- To evaluate a candidate’s suitability for employment opportunities.
Selection and Assessment
- To conduct interviews, assessments, and recruitment evaluations.
- To verify qualifications, certifications, references, and employment history.
- To conduct background screening where legally permitted and appropriate.
Hiring and Onboarding
- To prepare employment offers and contracts.
- To complete onboarding procedures.
- To establish employee records and facilitate payroll, benefits administration, tax registration, and IT access.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- To comply with employment, social security, tax, immigration, health and safety, anti-discrimination, and other legal obligations.
- To respond to requests from regulatory authorities and governmental bodies.
Protection of Legal Rights
- To establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
- To manage disputes, investigations, audits, and compliance reviews.
3.2 Legal Basis for Processing
Depending on the purpose of processing, Applicant Personal Data may be processed on one or more of the following legal bases:
Performance of a Contract or Pre-contractual Measures (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR)
Processing necessary to take steps at your request before entering into an employment contract or engagement arrangement.
Compliance with Legal Obligations (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR)
Processing necessary to comply with legal obligations arising under employment, tax, social security, immigration, health and safety, and other applicable laws.
Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
Processing necessary for Ascend’s legitimate interests in conducting recruitment processes, managing human resources operations, protecting company assets, ensuring information security, and defending legal claims, provided that such interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
Where consent is required under applicable law, Ascend will obtain your consent before processing. Consent may be withdrawn at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Employment Law Requirements
Where processing is necessary for carrying out obligations and exercising specific rights in the field of employment and social protection law, in accordance with Article 9(2)(b) GDPR and applicable German law.
Legal Claims
Where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.
4. Disclosure and Sharing of Applicant Personal Data
As part of its normal business operations, Ascend may disclose Applicant Personal Data to the following recipients where necessary and appropriate:
- Internal stakeholders involved in recruitment, hiring, onboarding, human resources, management, legal, compliance, and IT functions on a need-to-know basis.
- Parent company, affiliated entities, and group companies for business, operational, administrative, and human resources purposes.
- Recruitment agencies, background verification providers, occupational health providers, IT service providers, payroll providers, and other service providers engaged by Ascend.
- Professional advisers, auditors, consultants, and legal counsel.
- Regulatory authorities, government agencies, courts, and law enforcement authorities where required by law.
- Third parties involved in corporate transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, or transfers of business operations.
Applicant Personal Data is shared only where necessary and subject to appropriate confidentiality, security, and data protection safeguards.
5. Transfer of Applicant Personal Data outside the EEA
Ascend operates globally and may transfer Applicant Personal Data to recipients located outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including to its parent company in India and to affiliated entities or service providers located in other jurisdictions.
Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, Ascend will implement appropriate safeguards in accordance with Chapter V of the GDPR, including where applicable:
- European Commission Adequacy Decisions;
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs);
- Other legally recognized transfer mechanisms.
Ascend takes reasonable steps to ensure that all recipients provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.
6. Retention of Applicant Personal Data
Ascend will retain Applicant Personal Data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Notice and to comply with applicable legal obligations.
For unsuccessful applicants, recruitment records may be retained for a limited period after completion of the recruitment process to comply with legal obligations and defend potential legal claims, unless a longer retention period is permitted by law or consented to by the applicant.
Where employment is offered and accepted, relevant Applicant Personal Data may become part of the employee personnel file and will be retained in accordance with applicable employee data retention requirements.
Personal data may also be retained for longer periods where necessary for legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, audit, or litigation purposes.
7. Security Practices and Procedures
Ascend has implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect Applicant Personal Data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized access, or other unlawful processing.
These measures include:
- Role-based access controls;
- Secure HR and recruitment systems;
- Encryption and security controls where appropriate;
- Confidentiality obligations for personnel;
- Security monitoring and assessments;
- Physical and electronic safeguards.
Ascend also requires third parties processing Applicant Personal Data on its behalf to maintain appropriate security and confidentiality measures.
8. Your Rights in connection with your Personal Data
Subject to applicable law, you may have the following rights:
- Right of Access – To obtain confirmation of whether your personal data is processed and receive a copy of that data.
- Right to Rectification – To request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Right to Erasure – To request deletion of personal data under certain circumstances.
- Right to Restrict Processing – To request restriction of processing in specific situations.
- Right to Data Portability – To receive personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and request transfer where applicable.
- Right to Object – To object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Right to Withdraw Consent – Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time.
- Right to Lodge a Complaint – To lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority.
Exercising Your Rights
To exercise any of the rights described above, or if you are not satisfied with how Ascend GmbH has handled your personal data, please contact our Group Data Protection Office at:
Email: privacy@ascend-de.eu.
If you believe that your personal data has been processed unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent German data protection supervisory authority or the supervisory authority in the EU Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement.
9. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Notice from time to time to reflect changes in legal, regulatory, operational, or business requirements.
We encourage you to review this Notice periodically. Any updated version will become effective when made available through appropriate communication channels. This Notice was last updated on: 01.07.2026