Magic CV Privacy Policy
Last updated: 13 Apr 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Magic CV ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal information when you use our mobile application and web services (collectively, the "Services").

Introduction

Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting it. This Privacy Policy outlines the types of information we collect, how it is used, who we share it with, and the measures we take to ensure your data remains secure. By using our Services, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information We Collect

We collect the following information from you:

• CV and Resume Data: When you use our CV analysis tool or upload your CV/resume to our platform, we collect and process the full content of these documents. This includes personal details, educational background, work history, skills, and any other information contained in your CV. This data is essential for providing our analysis services, connecting you with potential employers, and potentially for improving our internal AI models (see "How We Use Your Information").
• Information you provide directly: This includes your name, contact information, and any other information you choose to include in your profile. This data is essential for creating your profile and connecting you with potential employers.
• Information collected automatically: When you use our Services, we may collect certain information automatically, such as your device type, operating system, and IP address. This information helps us optimize performance and functionality.
• Device Fingerprinting (Android-exclusive feature): For Android users, we generate a random, anonymized fingerprint based on your device characteristics. This fingerprint is used solely to recognize your device for session management purposes and to improve your experience without requiring you to sign in. The fingerprint cannot be used to track you across other apps or websites.
• CV Fingerprinting: When you upload a CV, we generate a unique fingerprint based on file characteristics such as file size and structure. This fingerprint helps us identify duplicate submissions and is stored along with upload dates and original filenames. The fingerprint cannot be used to reconstruct your CV's contents.

How We Use Your Information

Your information is used for the following purposes:

• CV Analysis and Improvement: When you use our CV analysis tool, your CV content is processed by our AI systems to provide feedback, suggestions, and scores.
• Building Our Recruitment Database: CVs submitted through our platform, including those analyzed using our free CV analysis tool, may be added to our recruitment database. This database enables us to match candidates with potential job opportunities and provide recruitment services to employers.
• To create and manage your profile on our platform, enabling you to showcase your skills and connect with potential employers.
• To facilitate connections between you and potential employers or educational institutions based on your profile and preferences.
• To improve the performance and usability of our Services by analyzing telemetry data, such as start-up time, load time, and request/response times.
• To provide session management for Android users using device fingerprinting, ensuring a seamless experience without requiring sign-ins.
• To ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements where applicable.
• To maintain data quality through our CV fingerprinting system.
• To Improve Our AI Models and Services:

  We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and helpfulness of our AI-powered features, such as CV analysis and role recommendations. To achieve this:

  • Training Internal Models: We may use **anonymized** data derived from your CV (such as skills, experience descriptions, education history, but with personal identifiers removed) as input prompts to train and fine-tune our internal artificial intelligence models. This helps our models better understand CV content and provide more relevant feedback and recommendations.
  • Generating Synthetic Training Data: We may utilize advanced third-party AI models to generate synthetic data (such as example feedback or role recommendations) based on **anonymized** CV prompts derived from user submissions. This synthetically generated data may then be reviewed and used, alongside anonymized prompts, to further train our internal AI models.

  Crucially, any data used for AI model training or synthetic data generation is anonymized beforehand to protect your privacy. See the 'Data Anonymization' section below.

Sharing Your Information

We may share your information in the following scenarios:

• With potential employers: Your profile information and CV data (as you provide it, not the anonymized training data) may be shared with employers you choose to connect with through our platform or with employers who are seeking candidates with your qualifications.
• With third-party service providers: We may share your information with service providers who help us operate our Services, such as cloud storage providers, AI analysis services (including potentially those used for synthetic data generation, under strict confidentiality agreements), or analytics platforms.
• Within our company's umbrella: We may share your information with partner products or services to enhance your experience.
• In compliance with legal obligations: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

CV Analysis Tool Specific Practices

Our free CV analysis tool processes your CV to provide personalized feedback. By using this tool, you should be aware of the following:

• The complete content of your CV is analyzed by our AI systems to generate feedback for you.
• Your CV file is stored on our servers and may be retained for up to three months after your last interaction with our Services, unless required otherwise for legal reasons or if you request deletion sooner.
• Information extracted from your CV, **in an anonymized form**, may be used to enhance our CV analysis algorithms and improve our Services, including for training our AI models as described above.
• Your CV (the original, non-anonymized version) may be added to our recruitment database, which is used to match candidates with potential employers, subject to your choices and rights.
• You can request the deletion of your CV data at any time by contacting us at feedback@magiccv.co.za.

Data Anonymization for AI Training

Protecting your privacy is paramount, especially when leveraging data to improve our AI systems. Before any data derived from your CV is used for internal AI model training or for generating synthetic training data, we employ processes designed to anonymize it.

Anonymization involves removing or obfuscating Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which may include, but is not limited to:

• Your Name
• Contact Information (email address, phone number, physical address)
• Links to personal websites or portfolios (unless generic like GitHub/LinkedIn)
• Names of specific individuals (e.g., references)
• Specific, non-public company names or project details that could uniquely identify you.

The goal is to use the structural and semantic content of CVs to train our models without retaining information that directly identifies you. While we strive to use robust anonymization techniques, no method is foolproof. The anonymized data used for training is handled with strict security controls.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data (such as your profile information and original CVs) for a period of three months after it is last used or referenced by Magic CV in any capacity (e.g., last login, last application submission, last analysis). After this period, your data is securely deleted from our active systems unless we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory reasons, or for backup and disaster recovery purposes (subject to secure deletion upon expiry of backup cycles).

CV fingerprints and associated metadata are retained for the same three-month period after final use or reference as other data. After this period, both the fingerprints and their associated logs are securely deleted unless retention is required for legal or regulatory reasons.

Anonymized data used for AI model training may be retained for longer periods as it does not contain personally identifiable information, but it is stored securely and used solely for model improvement purposes.

Data Breach Procedures

In the unlikely event of a data breach involving personally identifiable information, we have procedures in place to respond promptly and effectively. Our response includes:

• Identifying and mitigating the breach to prevent further unauthorized access.
• Notifying affected users whose personal data was compromised, in accordance with applicable laws (like POPIA). Notifications will include details about the breach, the data involved, and any recommended steps you can take to protect yourself.
• Conducting a thorough investigation to understand the cause of the breach and implement measures to prevent future occurrences.
• Reporting the breach to relevant authorities (like the Information Regulator in South Africa) as required by law.

Security

We take the security of your data seriously and implement reasonable industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect it. These measures include:

• Encryption of sensitive data during transmission (e.g., using TLS/SSL) and at rest.
• Secure storage of CV files with restricted access controls.
• Regular security assessments and updates to our systems.
• Access controls to limit personnel access to user data based on job function.

However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Your Rights

As a user, particularly under laws like the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in South Africa, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you, including copies of CVs you've uploaded.
• The right to request corrections to any inaccuracies in your data.
• The right to request the deletion of your data (right to be forgotten), subject to our data retention policy and legal obligations.
• The right to object to the processing of your data for certain purposes, including direct marketing or its inclusion in our recruitment database.
• The right to data portability, allowing you to obtain certain personal data you provided in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your rights have been infringed.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at feedback@magiccv.co.za. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or Services. Any updates will be posted on our Services, and the "Last updated" date at the top will be revised. For significant changes, we may provide more prominent notice (e.g., via email or in-app notification). We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact our designated Information Officer at feedback@magiccv.co.za. We are committed to addressing your concerns and ensuring the privacy and security of your information.