APPLICANT NOTICE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
1. Overview
This Notice explains your rights under the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100 et seq.) and helps you understand how Hot Topic, Inc., its affiliates and subsidiaries, including BoxLunch and Her Universe (collectively, “Hot Topic”) collects and uses your Personal Information in compliance with the CPRA. In this Notice, the terms “company,” ”us,” “we,” and “our” refer to Hot Topic and its affiliates and subsidiaries, including BoxLunch and Her Universe. “Applicant” or “you” refer to job applicants or candidates for employment with Hot Topic.
2. What Information We Collect
Hot Topic collects information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with you or your household (“Personal Information”). The following discusses the categories of Personal Information we collected in the last twelve (12) months. We will not collect additional categories of Personal Information or use the Personal Information we collected for materially different purposes without first providing you notice.
- Identifiers. We collect your name, driver’s license or ID number, email address, phone number, and mailing address from you during our recruitment processes. We may also collect personal identifiers about your personal or professional references, if you provide this information during the recruitment process.
- Characteristics of Protected Classifications Under California or Federal law. We may collect your date of birth, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origin, disability information, genetic information, marital status, or pregnancy and related information, if you provide this information as part of your application.
- Professional or Employment-related Information. We collect information related to your employment history during the recruitment process. We will not request or collect your salary history information during the application process.
- Education Information. We collect your education history from you as part of your application.
- Inferences. We may collect inferences drawn from the foregoing information such as your characteristics, preferences, aptitudes, or behaviors.
3. How We Use the Information We Collect
We use the Personal Information we collect for the following business and commercial purposes:
- Recruiting and Hiring. We use the Personal Information we collect from your application and through the interview process to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for employment.
- Background Checks and Pre-Employment Screenings. Some Applicants who are conditionally offered employment may be required to complete a background check or pre-employment physical.
- Government Reporting. We use the Personal Information we collect to comply with mandatory government reporting requirements and applicable laws.
4. Additional Rights under California Law
The CPRA provides California employees and applicants with specific rights regarding their Personal Information. This section describes your CPRA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
4.1. Right to Know and Right to Disclosure
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past twelve (12) months, including:
- The categories of personal information we collected about you.
- The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
- Specific pieces of personal information.
- Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information.
- The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information.
- The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request).
- If we disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, the business purpose for which personal information was disclosed, and the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.
4.2. Right to Delete
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.
4.3. Right to Correct
If we maintain inaccurate Personal Information about you, than you have the right to correct such inaccurate Personal Information, taking into account the nature of the Personal Information and the purposes of the processing of the Personal Information.
4.4. Right to Know What Personal Information is Sold or Shared and to Whom; Right to Opt-out of the Sale and Sharing of Personal Information.
We do not sell Personal Information about our employees or applicants. In the event that we do sell any Personal Information, we will update this Notice to list the categories of Personal Information sold.
4.5. Right to Restrict the Use of Sensitive Personal Information.
You have the right, to direct us to limit our use of the your sensitive personal information to that use which is necessary to perform our obligations as your employer.
4.6. No Retaliation
We will not retaliate against you for exercising your rights under the CPRA.
4.7. Responding to Rights Requests
To submit a request to exercise these rights you may contact us:
- By phone by calling (844) 325-9138, or
- By submitting your request using the designated request webform, which can be accessed through the company’s privacy policy at: https://www.hottopic.com/customer-service/hot-topic-policies/privacy-policy
We endeavor to respond to your request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response electronically. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the receipt of your verifiable request. Under certain circumstances we may not be able to fulfill your request. If we cannot fulfill your request, the response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply. For data access requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.
5. How We Retain Your Personal Information
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Hot Topic will retain your Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting, or other reporting requirements or obligations.
6. How You Are Protected Against Discrimination
Hot Topic will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights under the CPRA. This commitment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination by any employee of Hot Topic, including supervisors and coworkers.
7. Disclaimer
Nothing in this Notice restricts Hot Topic’s ability to:
- Comply with federal, state, or local laws;
- Comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory inquiry, investigation, subpoena, or summons by federal, state, or local authorities;
- Cooperate with law enforcement agencies concerning conduct or activity that the business, service provider, or third party reasonably and in good faith believes may violate federal, state, or local law;
- Exercise or defend legal claims;
- Detect security incidents and protect against fraudulent or illegal activity and prosecute those responsible for such activity; or
- Transfer Personal Information as part of a merger or acquisition, dissolution or in the event of bankruptcy or any other transaction in which a third party assumes control of all or part of Hot Topic.
8. Changes to this Notice
This Notice is reviewed and updated annually to ensure it accurately captures our practices and procedures. The effective date of this version is posted below.
9. Resolving Concerns and How to Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Notice or the handling of your Personal Information, please contact us via email by submitting a request through the Contact Us webpage located at https://www.hottopic.com/contactus or by phone by calling 1-800-892-8674.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2023