Introduction and scope
Abbott offers online career sites, designed to facilitate the search and application for various job opportunities at Abbott. When you use Abbott’s career sites, Abbott collects and processes personal data relating to you, referred to in this Privacy Statement as “personal data”.
This Privacy Statement explains the categories of personal data collected through Abbott’s career sites, the purposes for which such data is processed, how it may be shared, and the rights available to you under applicable data protection laws.
This Privacy Statement also provides information about how Abbott processes job applications, including the use of systems, leveraging artificial intelligence and automation features. Abbott takes the protection of personal data seriously and encourages you to review this Privacy Statement carefully.
Scope of this Privacy Statement
This Privacy Statement applies to both internal candidates, including Abbott employees, and external candidates who explore or apply for employment opportunities through the Abbott career sites. Additional local privacy statements may apply in specific countries to address local regulatory requirements and can be accessed via Abbott Global Privacy Policies.
1. Who is responsible for the processing of your personal data?
Abbott career sites support the collection and processing of your personal data in connection with job applications and related recruitment activities. The Abbott legal entity with which you are applying for a job is responsible for processing the personal data you choose to provide.
2. What personal data will we process?
During the application process, and depending on whether you are providing such data to Abbott, Abbott will process the following categories of personal data, as applicable:
- Contact details: Full name, address, email, telephone numbers;
- Abbott Career Sites Account details: e-mail address and password;
- Employment information: Current employer, job title, department, work history with employment dates, education background, experience, skills, professional certifications, work eligibility status, and any publicly available professional profile links;
- Application-related data: resumes or equivalent application materials, recruiter communications, and application status, and any other documentation or records generated during the recruitment process that relate to your application;
- Recruitment and evaluation data: Interview notes, internal analysis, shared salary and benefits, compensation and benefits information, notice period, work location preference, bonus eligibility, and other relevant documentation, materials, or notes generated during the recruitment process;
- Eligibility and Compliance Information: work authorization or permit status, and diversity or equal opportunity data where collection is legally required or permitted under applicable employment regulations;
- Publicly Available Professional Profile Information: Information you have publicly shared on external professional networking platforms, such as LinkedIn, where you have provided prior consent to review or collect such information. This information is collected within the terms and conditions of the relevant platform(s);
- Interview Audio, Video, and Supporting Materials: Audio or video recordings and any written submissions you provide to support your application during an interview pre-screening process;
- Application metadata: Submission date, application status updates from the Phenom platform, system-generated identifiers (such as candidate ID), and technical information captured during account management and login activities (including IP address and device/browser details). These technical details are collected as part of standard internet and platform security practices and are not visible to recruiters or hiring managers;
3. For which purposes and on which legal bases do we process your personal data?
Lawful Basis of Processing | The personal data is processed for the following purposes: |
• Processing necessary to perform steps prior to entering into an employment contract, including receiving, reviewing, and managing candidate applications. | • Recruitment and selection activities, including reviewing applications, assessing qualifications, and communicating with candidates during the hiring process. |
4. Who will have access to your personal data?
During the application process, Abbott shares personal data with the following recipients, as applicable:
- Abbott Recruitment and HR Personnel: Includes Talent Acquisition teams, HR business partners, HR operations, shared services, and system administrators who support recruitment activities or provide candidate assistance. Access is strictly limited to personnel with a business need to process your application.
- Hiring Managers and Interview Participants: Individuals responsible for reviewing applications, evaluating candidate suitability, conducting interviews, or making hiring decisions.
- Abbott IT and Security Teams: Personnel who support platform maintenance, troubleshoot technical issues, monitor system integrity, and maintain secure authentication processes under strict access controls.
- Third-party agents, service providers and advisers (commissioned by Abbott to provide HR services and IT maintenance/ support):
- Abbott career sites’ hosting provider,
- Human capital management system vendors,
- External recruiters or Talent Acquisition consultants engaged by Abbott,
- Background screening service providers (where applicable and legally permitted),
- Analytics and platform optimization vendors that help improve recruitment efficiency or candidate experience.
All third‑party service providers process personal data under Abbott’s documented instructions and are subject to contractual confidentiality and security obligations.
- Government, Regulatory, or Law Enforcement Authorities: Agencies that require personal data for compliance with employment, immigration, anti‑discrimination, regulatory, tax, or other mandatory legal obligations.
- Professional Advisors and Transaction‑Related Parties: Auditors, legal counsel, or authorized parties involved in potential or actual corporate transactions such as reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, or similar events, subject to applicable safeguards.
- Internal Technical Administrators: Limited access for system troubleshooting, maintenance, or performance support under tight controls and only where access to personal data is required for the technical task.
5. Sources of personal data
Personal data about you will be collected directly from you either via online forms, via email, in person, in writing or via telephone, as well as through other activities during the course of your application process. Personal data may also be collected from third parties, including from references, former employers, and recruitment agencies, subject to the requirements of applicable law. We will indicate whether the information requested is mandatory or optional. If you fail to provide mandatory information, in some circumstances this may mean we will be unable to process your application.
6. What systems, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, does Abbott use when processing your personal data?
Subject to your consent, Abbott utilizes certain AI-enabled technologies to support the recruitment processes. Abbott may use the following AI‑enabled tools and functionalities:
- Resume parser: an AI tool that extracts and organizes data from submitted resumes and related application materials to structure candidate data into a consistent format. The resume parser supports data organization only and does not assess, evaluate, or rank candidates;
- Fit score: AI technology that generates an informational indicator of potential alignment between a candidate profile and a position, based on a limited set of job-relevant parameters such as job title, experience, location, and skills. Fit scores support recruiter review only and do not make or automate recruitment or hiring decisions;
- AI Discovery: an AI-enabled functionality that analyzes limited set of job‑relevant parameters, including job title, work experience, location, and skills to identify candidate profiles and generate job recommendations that may be relevant to open roles;
- Video/ audio transcriptions: Generated only where a candidate has provided a separate affirmative consent. When enabled, audio or video recordings from the screening or interview process are transcribed using automated tools to support the recruiter and hiring manager review.
- Automated interview scheduling: Enables efficient coordination of interview time slots between candidates and Abbott business or HR representatives;
- Chatbot: an AI‑enabled virtual assistant available on Abbott’s career sites. Candidates may choose to interact with the chatbot to receive guidance, ask questions about the application process, search for open positions, or navigate the site in a more conversational format. The chatbot may also assist with submitting an application, creating a candidate profile, and setting up job alerts based on the preferences provided.
7. Where will my personal data be processed?
Abbott is a global organization headquartered in the United States, and the systems supporting the Abbott career sites are primarily hosted and operated in the United States. As a result, your personal data will be processed in the United States and may also be accessed by authorized Abbott personnel or service providers located in other countries where Abbott operates or where recruitment support services are provided.
Personal data processed in the context of recruitment may therefore be transferred to jurisdictions that have different data protection laws and requirements than those in your country of residence. These laws may offer various levels of protection for personal data. Regardless of the location in which your personal data is processed, Abbott applies its global privacy, security, and compliance standards to safeguard your personal data.
Abbott uses contractual and organizational measures to ensure an appropriate level of protection whenever personal data is transferred across borders. These measures may include data processing agreements, confidentiality requirements, technical safeguards, and other protections aligned with Abbott’s internal policies and applicable legal requirements.
If you reside outside the United States and your personal data will be transferred to the United States, Abbott will implement appropriate transfer mechanisms as required under applicable law.
8. How is Personal Data protected?
Abbott maintains comprehensive technical and organizational measures designed to safeguard your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse. These safeguards are aligned with Abbott’s global information security standards and are reviewed for effectiveness.
Access to candidate personal data is restricted to authorized employees and contracted service providers who require such access to perform their assigned responsibilities. All personnel with access are bound by confidentiality obligations and may only process personal data in accordance with Abbott’s policies, applicable legal requirements, and the principle of “need to know”.
9. How long is personal data retained?
Abbott retains candidate personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the data was collected, or for as long as required to meet legal, regulatory, or operational obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the jurisdiction, applicable employment laws, and the nature of the recruitment activity.
10. Can I delete my personal data?
You have the possibility to delete your profile and application data manually by following the steps below:
- Go to https://jobs.abbott.com/
- Select Login in the upper right corner and sign in using your email address or an authorized social account.
- Once logged in, navigate to Account Settings.
- Within Account Settings, select Delete your profile
a. Please note that deleting your account cannot be undone. Once the deletion is completed, you will no longer have access to your profile or any documents stored within it.
If you prefer that Abbott delete your profile on your behalf, or if you are unable to access your account, you may submit a request to the Abbott Talent Acquisition team at TalentAcquisition@abbott.com. Abbott will review and process your request in accordance with applicable legal requirements and internal retention policies.
11. Data rights for personal data
Depending on the laws of your country of residence and the jurisdiction in which the recruitment process occurs, you may have certain rights regarding the personal data Abbott processes about you. These rights may include the ability to:
- Access your personal data and obtain information about how Abbott processes it, including the categories of data collected and the purposes of processing.
- Correct or update personal data that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.
- Request deletion of your personal data, subject to Abbott’s legal and regulatory obligations related to employment, equal opportunity, audit, or recordkeeping requirements.
- Request a copy of certain personal data in a portable electronic format, or ask that Abbott transmit such data to another party where required by applicable law.
- Request restriction of the processing of your personal data in specific circumstances, for example while the accuracy of the data is being verified or where processing is contested.
- Withdraw consent at any time where Abbott relies on your consent to process your personal data. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred prior to the withdrawal.
- Seek review of certain recruitment decisions where applicable law provides such a right, including situations where automated tools assist in the recruitment process. All hiring decisions at Abbott involve human review.
- Raise any concerns or complaints that you may have about how Abbott processes your personal data directly.
- Submit a complaint to a competent data protection authority if you believe your personal data has been processed in a manner that violates applicable privacy or data protection laws.
Abbott will review and respond to all privacy rights requests in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Instructions for submitting a request or contacting the appropriate Abbott team can be found in Section 10 and 12 of this Notice.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Statement or about how Abbott processes your personal data in connection with the Abbott career sites, you may contact Abbott using the information below.
Abbott Laboratories
Attention: Privacy Office, Department EC10 100 Abbott Park Road
Abbott Park, IL 60064-6048
United States
Email: privacy@abbott.com
For questions specifically related to the recruitment process or your candidate profile, you may also contact the Abbott Talent Acquisition team at: TalentAcquisition@abbott.com
If your inquiry relates to privacy rights under applicable data protection laws, Abbott will review and respond in accordance with those legal requirements. Additional region‑specific contact information may be provided on local Abbott websites where required by law.