Online behaviour and adverse media checks review publicly available digital sources to identify relevant conduct, safeguarding, reputational or risk-related concerns. This can include public news coverage, online articles, forums, blogs and relevant publicly accessible social media activity.

Employers use these checks to understand risk that may not appear in traditional screening, such as reputational concerns, safeguarding issues, harmful public conduct or adverse media linked to a candidate. They are particularly valuable for senior hires, regulated roles, public-facing positions and roles involving trust, safety or brand reputation.

Not exactly. Social media may form part of an online behaviour check where relevant and publicly available, but the check is broader than social media alone. It can also include adverse media, public-domain content and other online sources that may indicate conduct, safeguarding or reputational risk.

Yes. Security Watchdog’s online behaviour and adverse media checks are GDPR compliant when consented to by the candidate. The process is designed to review relevant publicly available information in a fair, proportionate and governed way. Findings are human-reviewed to provide context and support informed, consistent hiring decisions.

Yes. Candidate consent is required before Security Watchdog can begin an online behaviour or adverse media check, with clear consent woven into the digital candidate journey. Employers should make sure candidates understand that this check forms part of the screening process before it is requested. This helps maintain transparency, supports a fair candidate experience and ensures the check only starts once the candidate has provided the required consent.

Yes. Human review is important because online information can be incomplete, misleading or taken out of context. Security Watchdog uses trained specialists to review findings, apply context and support fair, proportionate reporting.