Privacy Policy

1Introduction

HVT Global Solutions OPC, operating under the name Hire Virtual Team (“HVT,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), is a One Person Corporation registered in the Philippines. We connect businesses with dedicated virtual team members and outsourcing professionals.

We are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal data entrusted to us by clients, prospective clients, job applicants, virtual team members, website visitors, and other individuals who interact with our business.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how and why we process it, when we disclose it, how long we retain it, the safeguards we apply, and the rights available to individuals.

We process personal data in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws, including the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and applicable issuances of the National Privacy Commission (NPC). Where applicable to our activities, we also seek to comply with other relevant data protection laws.

This Policy should be read together with our website Terms and Conditions, applicable contractual terms, recruitment notices, cookie disclosures, and any separate privacy notices provided for particular services.

By using our website or providing personal data, you acknowledge that you have been given access to this Policy. This acknowledgment does not replace consent or another lawful basis where one is required by law.

2Personal Data We Collect

The personal data we collect depends on your relationship with HVT and the services involved. We seek to collect information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.

2.1Clients and Business Inquiries

We may collect:

Name, job title, company name, and business contact information, including email address, telephone number, and business address.
Information about staffing, recruitment, outsourcing, virtual team, and other service requirements.
Contractual information, proposals, statements of work, and service-related correspondence.
Billing, invoicing, and payment information necessary to administer our commercial relationship.
Records of meetings, calls, communications, and business transactions.
Information reasonably necessary to verify business relationships, manage accounts, and comply with legal obligations.

2.2Job Applicants and Prospective Virtual Team Members

We may collect:

Name, contact information, address, and date of birth where required for a legitimate recruitment or employment purpose.
Resume or curriculum vitae, employment history, qualifications, education, skills, languages, certifications, honors, and awards.
References and information supplied by individuals identified as professional references.
Salary history where lawfully collected, compensation expectations, availability, preferred working hours, and employment preferences.
Interview notes, assessment results, professional evaluations, and recruitment communications.
Information obtained from publicly available professional profiles or job portals, where relevant to the recruitment process.
Information supplied by clients or recruitment partners in connection with referrals or candidate assessments.

2.3Engaged Virtual Team Members and Personnel

Where an applicant is hired or engaged, we may collect additional information reasonably necessary to administer the relationship, including:

Employment or engagement agreements, onboarding records, and personnel files.
Government-issued identification and relevant tax or social contribution numbers.
Payroll, compensation, bank account, benefits, and statutory contribution information.
Emergency contact details.
Attendance, working hours, leave, performance, training, and disciplinary records, where applicable.
Information required for client onboarding, system access, security administration, and compliance with contractual or legal requirements.

2.4Website Visitors

When you visit our website, we may collect technical and usage information, including:

Internet Protocol (IP) address.
Browser type, operating system, and device information.
Pages visited, referral sources, approximate usage patterns, and time spent on pages.
Cookie identifiers and information collected through similar technologies.

The actual information collected depends on the website features, hosting arrangements, analytics tools, and technologies in use.

2.5Sensitive Personal Information

Certain information may be classified as sensitive personal information or otherwise receive special protection under applicable law. Depending on the circumstances, this may include health information, government-issued identifiers, information concerning religious or political affiliations, and other legally protected categories.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information unless it is reasonably necessary for a legitimate and lawful purpose, such as statutory employment administration, benefits, a properly authorized background check, or another legally permitted activity.

Where required, we will obtain consent or establish another legally valid basis for processing and provide the appropriate information about the purpose and use of the data.

Individuals should avoid providing sensitive personal information through general website forms unless it has been specifically requested through an appropriate process.

3How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

Complete a website form or submit a business inquiry.
Submit a resume, job application, or professional profile.
Participate in interviews, assessments, or recruitment activities.
Book a meeting, communicate with our representatives, or request a proposal.
Enter into a contract or receive our services.
Complete onboarding or employment documentation.
Visit or interact with our website.

We may also receive information from:

Professional references identified by applicants.
Publicly available professional profiles and recruitment platforms.
Clients, business partners, recruitment partners, and referral sources.
Payroll, benefits, verification, and other service providers, where relevant and lawful.
Government authorities or other sources where permitted or required by law.

Where appropriate, we take reasonable steps to ensure that individuals are informed about the collection and use of their personal data.

4Purposes and Legal Bases for Processing

We use personal data for legitimate business, recruitment, operational, contractual, and legal purposes.

These purposes include:

Responding to inquiries and communicating with prospective and existing clients.
Preparing proposals, quotations, contracts, and statements of work.
Recruiting, evaluating, screening, matching, and placing virtual team members.
Administering employment and engagement relationships, including onboarding, payroll, benefits, attendance, performance, and training.
Providing recruitment, outsourcing, virtual team, and related services.
Facilitating client onboarding, authorized system access, and service delivery.
Managing billing, collections, accounting, and business records.
Maintaining website functionality, preventing fraud, investigating security incidents, and improving our services.
Sending relevant business communications, service updates, and marketing communications where permitted by law.
Meeting applicable legal, regulatory, tax, employment, and reporting obligations.
Establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims.
Protecting the rights, property, security, and legitimate interests of HVT, its clients, personnel, and other relevant parties.

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, our legal bases for processing may include consent, performance of a contract, steps requested before entering into a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, and legitimate interests where legally permitted.

We will assess the appropriate legal basis for each relevant processing activity. Where consent is required, it will be requested separately and appropriately. Where processing relies on consent, individuals may withdraw that consent subject to applicable legal requirements and the consequences explained to them.

We will not knowingly use personal data for an incompatible purpose without providing the required information and obtaining any additional consent or authorization required by law.

Individuals are responsible for providing accurate, complete, and current information. We take reasonable steps to maintain data that is relevant to its intended purpose.

HVT does not sell personal data.

We may disclose personal data where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to the following categories of recipients.

5.1Clients and Prospective Clients

We may share relevant candidate profiles, qualifications, professional experience, assessment information, and other appropriate recruitment information with clients considering individuals for assignments or engagements.

For assigned virtual team members, relevant information may be shared to facilitate onboarding, service delivery, authorized system access, workforce administration, and compliance with contractual requirements.

We seek to limit such disclosures to information appropriate for the relevant purpose.

5.2Service Providers

We may engage third-party service providers to support our operations, including:

Website hosting, cloud storage, and information technology providers.
Communication, collaboration, and productivity platforms.
Recruitment and applicant tracking platforms.
Payroll, accounting, benefits, and administrative providers.
Background verification and assessment providers.
Professional advisers and other specialist service providers.

These providers may process personal data on our behalf or in accordance with their separate legal responsibilities, depending on the service and arrangement involved.

5.3Authorities and Professional Advisers

We may disclose personal data to government agencies, courts, regulators, law enforcement authorities, auditors, or professional advisers when required or permitted by law, necessary to respond to lawful proceedings, or reasonably required to establish or defend legal claims.

5.4Business Transactions

Personal data may be disclosed as part of a proposed or completed merger, restructuring, financing, acquisition, or sale of all or part of our business, subject to applicable legal requirements and appropriate safeguards.

5.5Data Minimization and Contractual Safeguards

We seek to disclose only personal data reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

Where a third party processes personal data on our behalf, we will implement appropriate contractual and organizational safeguards, as required by applicable law. Depending on the relationship, these may address confidentiality, security, permitted processing, subcontracting, retention, deletion, and incident reporting.

We do not authorize recipients to use personal data for unrelated purposes where such use is prohibited by the applicable agreement or law.

6International Data Transfers

HVT works with clients, personnel, and service providers who may be located in different countries. Consequently, personal data may be transferred to, stored in, or accessed from locations outside the Philippines.

International transfers may occur where necessary for recruitment, client matching, virtual team operations, payroll administration, technology services, customer support, or other purposes described in this Policy.

Where applicable, we will take appropriate steps to protect transferred personal data. These may include contractual safeguards, appropriate access restrictions, security measures, and other transfer mechanisms required by relevant law.

Where the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), United Kingdom GDPR, or another applicable data protection law imposes additional requirements, we will assess and implement the appropriate safeguards where required.

Information about relevant transfer arrangements and safeguards may be requested through the contact details provided in Section 14.

The specific destinations, recipients, and transfer mechanisms depend on the services and systems involved.

7Data Protection and Security

We take reasonable and appropriate organizational, physical, and technical measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss, misuse, and destruction.

Depending on the nature of the information and the systems involved, safeguards may include:

Access controls and permissions based on business need.
Confidentiality obligations for personnel and relevant service providers.
Secure systems and storage arrangements.
Appropriate authentication and account-management practices.
Procedures for onboarding, modifying, and revoking access.
Security reviews and measures intended to identify and address vulnerabilities.
Data handling and retention procedures.
Incident identification, escalation, investigation, and response procedures.

Where HVT personnel access client systems or information, access should be limited to authorized purposes and governed by applicable client instructions, contractual obligations, and security requirements.

HVT will implement safeguards appropriate to the risks associated with the relevant processing activities. The particular safeguards may vary according to the systems and services involved.

No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7.1Personal Data Breaches

If a personal data breach occurs, HVT will assess the incident, take reasonable steps to contain and investigate it, and implement appropriate remedial measures.

Where notification is required under applicable law, we will notify the relevant authority and affected individuals within the prescribed timeframe and in accordance with applicable requirements.

Where client data is involved, we will also follow the incident reporting and cooperation requirements established by the applicable contract or data processing agreement.

8Data Retention and Deletion

HVT retains personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, subject to applicable legal, regulatory, tax, employment, accounting, contractual, and recordkeeping requirements.

Retention periods may differ depending on the type of information and the nature of the relationship.

Examples include:

Unsuccessful applicants: Records may be retained for recruitment administration, future opportunities where appropriate, and compliance with applicable requirements.
Current personnel: Records may be retained for employment administration, payroll, benefits, performance management, and statutory obligations.
Former personnel: Records may be retained for final payroll, employment records, legal claims, and other applicable obligations.
Clients and commercial records: Contracts, invoices, communications, and related records may be retained for financial administration, contractual obligations, legal compliance, and dispute resolution.
Website and technical records: Information may be retained for security, troubleshooting, analytics, and website administration, subject to the applicable retention arrangements.

We will establish and maintain appropriate retention periods or criteria based on the relevant legal requirements, operational needs, and risks.

When personal data is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete, anonymize, or destroy it, subject to applicable legal obligations and legitimate grounds for continued retention.

Requests for deletion will be assessed in light of the individual’s rights and any applicable legal or contractual requirements. We may be unable to delete certain information where retention is legally required or otherwise lawfully justified.

9Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality, remember preferences, understand website usage, and improve the user experience.

Cookies may include:

Essential cookies: Technologies necessary for the website to function or provide a requested service.
Preference cookies: Technologies used to remember settings or preferences.
Analytics cookies: Technologies used, where implemented, to understand website traffic and usage patterns.
Other optional technologies: Additional tracking or measurement technologies, if implemented and permitted by applicable law.

Where required, we will obtain consent before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.

Depending on the website’s actual configuration, visitors may be able to accept, reject, or modify optional cookie preferences through a cookie banner or settings tool. Browser settings may also allow users to restrict or delete cookies.

Blocking essential cookies may affect certain website functions.

The specific cookies, providers, purposes, and retention periods will depend on the technologies actually deployed. Additional information should be provided through the website’s cookie settings or a separate cookie notice where appropriate.

10Your Privacy Rights

Subject to applicable law and any relevant limitations, individuals may have rights concerning their personal data.

Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012, these may include the following rights.

10.1Right to Be Informed

You may request information about whether your personal data is being processed, the purposes of processing, the categories of information involved, and other information required by law.

10.2Right of Access

You may request access to personal data held about you and relevant information about its processing, subject to applicable limitations.

10.3Right to Rectification

You may request correction of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal data.

10.4Right to Object

You may object to certain processing activities where the right applies under the Data Privacy Act or other applicable law. Where applicable, you may also opt out of direct marketing communications.

10.5Right to Erasure or Blocking

You may request erasure or blocking of personal data where the relevant legal conditions are satisfied. This right is not absolute and may be subject to lawful retention requirements or other applicable grounds.

10.6Right to Data Portability

Where applicable, you may request a copy of personal data in an appropriate electronic format, subject to the conditions and limitations established by law.

10.7Right to Withdraw Consent

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before the withdrawal, and it does not necessarily prevent processing supported by another valid legal basis.

10.8Right to Compensation

You may seek compensation for damages resulting from unlawful or unauthorized processing of personal data where the conditions established by applicable law are satisfied.

10.9Right to Lodge a Complaint

You may lodge a complaint with the National Privacy Commission or another competent supervisory authority, as applicable.

Additional rights may apply under other privacy laws, depending on the circumstances and the relevant jurisdiction.

10.10Exercising Your Rights

To exercise your rights, contact our Data Protection Officer using the details in Section 14.

We may request information reasonably necessary to verify your identity and confirm the scope of your request. We will assess requests in accordance with applicable legal requirements and respond within the applicable timeframe.

If we cannot fully comply with a request, we will explain the reasons where required by law.

We may retain information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, establish or defend legal claims, or rely on another lawful ground for continued processing.

11Third-Party Websites and Services

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, recruitment platforms, social media services, or other external resources.

Those websites and services operate under their own privacy policies and practices. This Policy does not automatically apply to their independent processing of personal data.

HVT is not responsible for third-party privacy practices outside its control. We encourage users to review the privacy notices and terms of any external services they access.

Where a third party processes personal data on behalf of HVT, the applicable contractual and legal arrangements will govern that processing.

12Children and Minors

HVT’s website and services are intended primarily for adults and businesses.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under 18 through our ordinary website and recruitment activities unless the collection is lawful, appropriate, and supported by any required authorization or safeguards.

If we become aware that personal data has been collected from a minor in circumstances where it should not have been collected, we will assess the circumstances and take appropriate steps, which may include deletion, subject to applicable law.

If you believe a minor has provided personal data to us inappropriately, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the details in Section 14.

13Marketing Communications

HVT may use business contact information to communicate about our services, relevant business updates, or offerings where permitted by law.

Where required, we will obtain consent before sending marketing communications.

Recipients may opt out of marketing communications by using an available unsubscribe mechanism or contacting us directly.

Opting out of marketing communications will not prevent us from sending non-marketing communications necessary to administer an existing contract, respond to an inquiry, or comply with legal obligations.

We will maintain appropriate records of marketing preferences and process opt-out requests in accordance with applicable law.

14Contact Us and Data Protection Officer

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to raise a concern about our handling of personal data, please contact:

HVT Global Solutions OPC
Operating as Hire Virtual Team
Philippines

Attention: Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Email: contactus@hirevirtualteam.com
Telephone: USA: +1 (609) 365-1283 · AUS: +61 2 7235 2200
Business address: Unit 1001 One Global Place, 25th St. Cor. 5th Ave., Fort Bonifacio 1635, City of Taguig, NCR, Fourth District, Philippines
Website: hirevirtualteam.com

Please include sufficient information to help us understand your inquiry. Do not send government identification documents, financial account information, or other sensitive personal data unless we request it through an appropriate and secure process.

You may also contact the Philippine National Privacy Commission through its official website:

https://privacy.gov.ph

Where another privacy law applies, you may also have the right to contact the relevant supervisory authority.

15Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our business operations, services, technologies, legal obligations, or data protection practices.

The updated version will be published on our website with a revised “Last updated” date.

Where a change is material, we will provide an appropriate notice or take other steps required by applicable law.

We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to remain informed about how HVT handles personal data.

16Interpretation and Applicable Law

This Policy should be interpreted consistently with applicable privacy and data protection laws.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to exclude, restrict, or waive a right or obligation that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or waived.

Where different privacy laws apply to particular processing activities, HVT will assess the applicable requirements and implement the necessary measures for those activities.

This Policy supplements, and does not replace, any separate privacy notice, employment documentation, client agreement, data processing agreement, or other contractual document applicable to a particular relationship.