Privacy notice for seafarer applicants
Version 2026-07. Please read this notice before you submit your application.
This notice explains how your personal data is collected and used when you apply through the ECMS seafarer self-service portal, and the rights you have under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent data protection laws. It is written to be clear rather than legalistic; if anything is unclear, contact us using the details in the last section.
1. Who is responsible for your data
The data controller for your application is [Controller name not configured], [Registered address not configured], together with the crew agency you select when you apply. The crew agency reviews your application and, if you are accepted, manages your ongoing crewing relationship. Where a specific manning agent acts on our behalf, it does so as a processor under a written agreement.
2. Why we process your data (purposes)
- To register your account and confirm your email address.
- To assess your suitability for seafarer positions with the crew agency you chose.
- To build and maintain your crew profile (personal details, rank, sea service, certificates).
- To contact you about your application and, if you opt in, about crewing opportunities and decisions.
- To meet legal, maritime, flag state, and safe-manning obligations.
- To keep records for audit, security, and dispute resolution.
3. Legal basis
We rely on the following legal bases:
- Consent for creating your applicant profile and for optional notifications. You can withdraw consent at any time (see your rights below).
- Steps prior to a contract, where processing is necessary to consider you for an employment or engagement contract.
- Legitimate interests in operating a secure recruitment process and preventing fraud, balanced against your rights.
- Legal obligation, where maritime or employment law requires us to hold certain records.
4. What data we collect
- Identity and contact details: name, email, phone, date and place of birth, nationality, gender, marital status.
- Account credentials: a password, stored only in hashed form.
- Professional data: desired rank, sea service history, vessel experience, certificates, and licences you upload.
- Application metadata: the agency you applied to, timestamps, and the IP address used at submission (for security and audit).
We ask only for what we need at each step (data minimisation). Optional fields are clearly marked.
When you first sign up, your name, email, chosen password (stored only as a secure hash) and, when phone confirmation is enabled, your mobile number are held temporarily only to verify them. No account is created until you confirm your email (and phone code, when required). Once confirmed, this information is used to create your account; if you do not confirm within a short period, the temporary record is deleted automatically.
5. Who your data is shared with
Your data is visible to the crew agency you selected and to the shipowners or managers it crews for, strictly to consider and manage your engagement. We also use trusted service providers (for example, secure hosting and email delivery) that act only on our instructions. We do not sell your data or use it for third-party advertising.
6. International transfers
Seafaring is international, so your data may be accessed from, or transferred to, countries outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, we use appropriate safeguards such as European Commission adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses, so your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.
7. How long we keep it
If your application is unsuccessful or you withdraw, we keep your data only as long as needed for the purposes above and to meet legal record-keeping duties, after which it is deleted or anonymised. If you are accepted, your data is retained for the duration of your crewing relationship and any period required by maritime and employment law.
8. Your rights
Subject to the conditions in data protection law, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure of your data (right to be forgotten). While your application is open, you can delete your own profile from the portal at any time.
- Restrict or object to certain processing.
- Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing consent for the applicant profile leads to erasure of that profile and does not affect processing carried out before withdrawal.
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.
9. Security
We use technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls, and audit logging. No system is perfectly secure, so please keep your password confidential and notify us of any suspected misuse.
10. Automated decisions
Acceptance decisions are made by the crew agency's staff. We do not make decisions about your application by solely automated means that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.
11. How to contact us
For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact our data protection contact at [Privacy contact not configured], or write to [Controller name not configured], [Registered address not configured]. We respond within the time limits set by applicable law.
Some data-controller details are not yet configured (shown as bracketed placeholders). The operating company must set them before the portal goes live.
