Shortlist – Privacy Policy

Summary

• Your career stays on your device. Your profile, documents, saved jobs and CVs are kept in the app on your iPhone or iPad. You don't need an account to use Shortlist.
• Cloud features are off until you choose them. Cloud backups need an account, cloud intelligence has to be switched on, and diagnostics are off unless you opt in.
• AI only sees what a feature needs, when you ask. Email addresses and phone numbers are removed first, and your text is not used to train AI models.
• No adverts, no tracking. Shortlist contains no advertising, does not track you across other apps or websites, and we never sell your information.
• You're in control. You can export your profile, delete what you've added, and delete your account and cloud data from inside the app.

Who we are

Shortlist ("the app") is published by Digitalhope Ltd ("we", "us"), a company registered in the United Kingdom. We are the data controller for the information described here. Contact: support@digitalhopeltd.com.

What stays on your device

These are saved in the app's private storage on your iPhone or iPad, protected by iOS data protection:

• your personal details: name, email address, phone number, location, and LinkedIn and portfolio links
• your career profile: headline, summary, roles, achievements, projects, skills, education and certifications, and the sources behind them
• original documents you import (PDF, Word or text files)
• jobs you save, with their descriptions, notes and application status
• the CVs you create and the wording you confirm

Shortlist's workspace is excluded from iCloud and computer backups of your device, so it only leaves your device if you back it up to your account, use cloud intelligence or share it yourself. PDFs you export are created in temporary storage for you to share or save. The fictional sample workspace contains no information about you and resets when the app restarts.

Reading your documents

Shortlist reads PDF, Word and text files on your device. For scanned PDF pages it uses Apple's on-device text recognition. Importing a document sends nothing to us or to anyone else. Only if you ask Shortlist to find the details in it automatically, with cloud intelligence on, is its text sent as described below.

On-device intelligence

On devices that support Apple Intelligence, Shortlist uses Apple's on-device language model to suggest new wording for short statements. This happens entirely on your device. Prefer on-device AI in You → AI & privacy is on by default.

Cloud intelligence

Cloud intelligence is off until you turn on Allow cloud intelligence in You → AI & privacy. When it is on, and only when you ask for one of these features, Shortlist sends text to Google's Gemini models through Firebase AI Logic:

• Finding the details in an imported CV: the readable text of that document
• Analysing a job: the job description you saved, and, to suggest questions for that role, your confirmed career statements and the excerpts they came from, with the titles and employers of your roles
• Tailoring a CV: your confirmed career statements and the excerpts they came from, the job description and the CV settings you chose
• Rewording a statement: the statement, when on-device rewording isn't available or you have turned it off

Before anything is sent, Shortlist replaces email addresses and international phone numbers with "[contact removed]". Your personal details are not included in requests about your profile. A CV or job description can still contain other personal information, such as your name, address or details about other people, so check a document before you ask Shortlist to read it.

Google processes this text as our service provider under the Gemini API terms for paid services, which do not allow Google to use it to improve its products or train its models. Google may keep it for a limited period to detect misuse. We do not keep a copy on our own systems. The app also downloads settings from Firebase Remote Config that choose which Gemini model is used.

Results are suggestions. Nothing is added to your profile, and nothing appears in a CV, until you have reviewed and confirmed it.

Your account

An account is optional and is only used for private cloud backups. When you create one, Firebase Authentication stores your email address, a securely hashed version of your password, whether your email is verified, a random account ID, and when the account was created and last used. Firebase sends verification and password-reset emails for us. We don't send marketing email.

Private cloud backups

When you are signed in and choose Back up this workspace, Shortlist uploads a copy of your whole workspace: your personal details, career profile, saved jobs and CVs, stored in Google Cloud Firestore, and the original documents you imported, stored in Firebase Cloud Storage. Both are in London, United Kingdom. Backups only happen when you ask; each one replaces the previous backup. Security rules allow only your account to read or change your backup. When you restore a backup, the workspace that was already on your device is kept there as a recovery copy.

Diagnostics (optional)

Share product diagnostics in You → AI & privacy is off by default. If you turn it on, Shortlist uses:

• Firebase Analytics to count when you use key features, such as importing a CV, answering a question, adding a job, or creating, editing or exporting a CV, together with the standard information Firebase collects: an app-instance ID, your device model, iOS and app versions, language and approximate country
• Firebase Crashlytics to send crash reports, which contain technical details of the crash, your device model, iOS and app versions, and an installation ID

Diagnostics never include your career information, documents, CVs or job descriptions. Turning the switch off stops collection.

Purchases

SHORTLIST+ is sold through the App Store. Apple handles payment and we never see your card details. The app checks Apple's signed transaction records on your device to unlock SHORTLIST+; we don't store your purchase records on our servers. Apple sends us sales reports that do not identify you. You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple account settings.

Technical information

To keep the service secure, Firebase App Check uses Apple's App Attest to confirm that requests come from a genuine copy of the app, and Firebase gives your installation a random identifier. Google keeps standard service logs, such as the time of a request and the IP address it came from, for security and fault-finding. Shortlist does not use cookies or Apple's advertising identifier.

Who we share information with

We use Google (Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Firebase AI Logic and the Gemini API, Remote Config and App Check, plus Analytics and Crashlytics only if you opt in) to provide the features above, and Apple for App Store purchases and App Attest. They act on our instructions under their data-processing terms. We do not sell personal information or share it with anyone for advertising.

Anything you share yourself, such as a CV PDF or a career profile export, goes wherever you send it. A career profile export includes your personal details and all your career information, so share it only with people you trust.

Where your information is kept

Your workspace is on your device, and your cloud backup is stored in London. Account information held by Firebase Authentication, cloud intelligence requests and diagnostics may be processed by Google outside the United Kingdom. Where they are, Google's data-processing terms include the safeguards UK data-protection law requires.

How long we keep information

• Information on your device stays until you delete it or remove the app.
• Your cloud backup stays until you replace it with a new backup or delete your account.
• Your account stays until you delete it.
• We don't keep cloud intelligence requests. Google keeps them only for the limited period its terms allow.
• If you opt in to diagnostics, crash reports are kept for 90 days and analytics data for no more than 14 months.

Our legal basis

Under UK data-protection law we process this information to provide the features you ask for (performance of a contract), with your consent for cloud intelligence and diagnostics, which you can withdraw at any time by turning them off, and in our legitimate interests in keeping the service secure.

Your rights and controls

You can edit your details, remove roles from your profile, delete CVs and export your career profile from inside the app. In You → Account, Delete account and cloud data permanently deletes your account, your cloud backup and the documents stored with it; your device's workspace stays until you remove the app. You also have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal data, to correct it, to delete it, to receive it in a portable form, or to object to how we use it. Email us at the address above and we will respond within one month. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Children

Shortlist is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

Changes to this policy

If the app changes in a way that affects your privacy, this page will be updated and the effective date changed before the update is released.