our privacy policy

The British Army, as part of the Ministry of Defence, is committed to protecting your privacy. When you contact us, visit our websites or share information with us, your personal information is stored securely and processed fairly as required by the Data Protection Act 2018, General Data Protection Regulation and Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations.

This privacy policy explains

What information the Army may collect about you
How the Army uses this information – confirming both the purpose and legal basis for processing your personal data
Your legal rights and our responsibilities as data controller
Who will have access to your information
How long your information may be held on our systems
The rights to access personal data or request the correction of inaccurate data
Who to contact in the Army if you have any questions about this policy or the information we hold about you
The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner
How cookies are used on our websites and the options available to reject these

Changes to our privacy policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time, so you may want to check the latest version before providing personal data to the Army.

This version was last updated on 17 March 2023.

How we collect information

We collect personal information when you

Register online, request information or submit an application through our websites
Provide information requested through the Candidate Portal in support of your application
Complete a printed form or questionnaire
Contact us by phone, post, email or text message
Use web chat to talk to a recruiter
Participate in any assessment activity during the recruiting and selecting process, whether it is conducted via video, telephone or face to face.

In addition, information is automatically captured each time you visit our websites. We use cookies (as described above) and collect IP addresses (that can uniquely identify a specific computer or network device on the internet) to track visitors to our websites and prepare management reports.

What we do with this information

We use the personal information you provide to answer your requests for information, to process your applications to join the Army, and to make improvements to our websites and recruitment practises.

What are my rights?

Your legal rights, and our responsibilities as data controller, are dependent on the legal basis used to process your personal data.

If you register online or contact us to express an interest in any part of the UK Armed Forces, or you submit an application to join the UK Armed Forces, your personal data will be processed using the following legal basis: Public task - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. In this case it is necessary for the MOD to perform its official duties in relation to recruitment to the Armed Forces, including answering your requests for information, processing your application to join the UK Armed Forces, making improvements to our websites and conducting data analytics studies to enable equal opportunities monitoring and the improvement of recruiting strategy and process.

You may still object to direct marketing, or processing where it can be demonstrated that your rights and interests outweigh those of the MOD, but there is no absolute right to request the removal of your personal data.

Regardless of your level of involvement and the legal basis used to process your personal data, you have a right to be informed about how your information will be used. You also have a right to access your personal data, to request the rectification of any inaccuracies, and to be told about the use of automated decision making and profiling. These rights are described in more detail below.

Who will have access to your information

Your personal information may be handled by the companies we use as data processors to provide marketing services and process your applications.

These companies must comply strictly with our privacy policies that prohibit the use of personal data for their own business purposes.

We will in some circumstances have to share your data with third parties, including third-party service providers. We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We will in some circumstances transfer your personal information outside the UK. If we do, you can expect a similar degree of protection in respect of your personal information.

We will not share your information with other organisations outside the Ministry of Defence (unless we are required to do so by law).

If you apply to join the Army, your personal data may be shared across the Royal Navy, Army and RAF (a) if you also apply to join these Services, (b) for the purpose of improving our recruitment practises on an aggregated and/or anonymised basis, and/or (c) in the event of an organisational, structural or administrative change within the Ministry of Defence.

If you agree, the information contained in targeting cookies may be shared with other websites so the advertising displayed on these sites is more relevant to you. No personal data will be shared with other websites – only IP addresses, which identify a specific computer or network device.

How long do we keep your information?

Your information will be held on our systems for as long as is necessary to answer your requests and maintain a dialogue with those individuals who remain interested in the Army and Army careers.

If you register an interest, but do not apply to join the Army, we will keep your personal data for no more than 3 years. This period starts on the day you last made contact with the Army and is reset each time you logon to our website or contact us to request further information.

If you apply to join the Army, but do not enter Service in the UK Armed Forces, we will keep your personal data in line with the data retention policy.

This will enable us to check the status and outcome of any previous application to join the UK Armed Forces.

Any special category personal data will be removed after 1 year, unless stated differently in the data retention policy. This period only starts when all your applications to join the UK Armed Forces have become inactive and will be reset each time you log on to our website or contact us to request further information.

Footnote: As per the ICOs definition, Special category data is personal data that needs more protection because it is sensitive.

At the end of this period, we will remove your personal information from our systems or treat the data to remove any personal identifiers that could be used to identify you as an individual.

If you enter Service in the UK Armed Forces, some of your personal data will be retained for 100 years as required under the Public Record Acts.

Can I remove the information held in my online account?

Your online account is required to manage your current applications across the UK Armed Forces – including the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.

You can ask us to remove your account but we can only do this if you have no active applications to join any Service in the UK Armed Forces.

You may contact us to withdraw a submitted application at any time but your personal data will continue to be held on our systems (as described above).

Will I be contacted by the Army for marketing purposes?

We will only contact or send information about the Army and Army jobs to those people who have given us explicit permission to do so.

We will only provide information that is relevant to you.

If you choose to receive marketing communications, you can tell us whether you want to be contacted by post, phone, email or text messages.

You can change these preferences whenever you contact us or at any time by logging on to your account (if you have registered online).

If you submit an application to join the Army, we will contact you by the most appropriate means to follow-up and process your application.

Will the information be used to make automated decisions that affect me?

We may use the personal data you provide to make automated decisions that affect you – for example, to decide if you are eligible to join the UK Armed Forces or suitable for a particular role.

We will inform you whenever we use personal data processed solely by automated means to make a decision that has a significant effect on you as an individual. In these cases, we will take reasonable steps to safeguard your legitimate rights and give you the opportunity to challenge any decision taken by automated means.

Advice for parents and young people

Many young people are interested in information about the Army. The privacy and security of their personal data is very important to us.

We encourage all parents to supervise their children’s use of the internet and for young people to always seek permission from a parent/guardian before entering any personal data in any website.

We will not process or store personal data about children under 14 years and will not accept registrations or applications to join the Army from individuals under 14 years.

We ask everyone under 18 years to confirm that they have spoken to a parent/guardian about their interest in the Army and obtained their permission before registering or applying to join the Army.

We require anyone under 18 to provide a signed consent form from a parent/guardian before they attend a recruitment event – including meetings, briefings, information days and visits.

What information do we hold about you?

You can request a report detailing the personal information we hold about you. You may also ask us to rectify your personal data if this is incorrect.

What to do if you don't want us to contact you in the future

You can ask us not to contact you again.

What to do if you object to processing and want us to remove your personal data

Write to the address below asking us to delete your details from our records.

You need to tell us what personal data you want us to remove, if you have registered an interest or applied to join more than one Service in the UK Armed Forces (British Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air Force).

Complaints related to the processing of personal data

You have a right to lodge a complaint with MOD information Rights Team or the Information Commissioner if you have a concern about how we are handling your information and your rights under the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation.

MOD Information Rights Team, Ground floor, zone D, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB

Email: [email protected]

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number

Information Commissioner's Office website. ico.org.uk

Data protection

More information about data protection and your rights can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website. ico.org.uk

Freedom of information

More information about the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the information made available to the public by the Ministry of Defence, can be found on the MOD pages on the GOV.UK website. www.foi.mod.uk

Contacting the army about personal information

Please use MOD Form 1694 to contact the Data Protection Advisor, if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you.

For current or former Army Recruitment Candidates who have not joined the Service:

Data Protection Officer, Recruiting Group Headquarters, Building 398, Trenchard Lines, Upavon, PEWSEY, Wiltshire SN9 6BE

Email: [email protected]

For former Service Personnel or any other category of requestor:

APC Secretariat, Disclosures 2, Mail Point 535, Kentigern house, 65 Brown Street, GLASGOW G2 8EX

The request should include proof of identity (plus written consent and/or court order/Power of Attorney if you are acting on behalf of the data subject). Requests by email or other means (i.e. Social Media) are acceptable but must be accompanied by the relevant documentation