Candidate Consent

Last updated: June 15, 2026

This article explains how candidate consent is recorded in SmartRecruiters when an agency introduces a candidate through the platform.

In this article

  • How candidate consent works

  • Agency responsibilities

  • Consent visibility in SmartRecruiters

  • Single vs. separated consent configurations

  • Troubleshooting

  • Help & Support

How candidate consent works

When the Candidate Consent setting is enabled, consent is automatically recorded in SmartRecruiters at the moment an agency introduces a candidate.

You can find this setting under:
Settings > Agency Portal Settings > ATS Integration (Advanced) > Candidate Consent

Agency responsibilities

Agencies are responsible for obtaining consent from the candidate before submitting them. By completing a candidate introduction and clicking the check box at the bottom of the introduction page, the agency confirms that consent has already been obtained from the candidate.

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Consent visibility in SmartRecruiters

Once a candidate is introduced, their consent status is visible directly on the right side of the candidate profile in SmartRecruiters. The profile shows:

  • When consent was acquired

  • Where consent was acquired

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Single vs. separated consent configurations

The Candidate Consent setting works with both single and separated consent configurations.

Configuration

What happens

Single consent

Full consent is passed through to SmartRecruiters

Separated consent

Only the SmartRecruit specific consent is passed through, this allows the candidate's data to be processed within the system, but not used for other purposes such as marketing

Troubleshooting

Consent status is not showing on the candidate's profile in SmartRecruiters.
Confirm that the Candidate Consent setting is enabled under Settings > Agency Portal Settings > ATS Integration (Advanced). If the setting is off, consent will not be recorded automatically on introduction.

The agency submitted a candidate but consent was not given.

Agencies are responsible for confirming consent before submission. Introducing a candidate and clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the introduction page acts as confirmation that consent has been obtained. If consent was not in place, the agency should not have proceeded with the introduction.

The privacy policy was not configured in the SmartRecruiters setting

Without the privacy notice, candidate consent cannot be acquired. Please navigate to Settings > Global compliance > Edit country/region of choice > add privacy policy link > click save.

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Help & Support

If you still need assistance, please contact SmartRecruiters Support.