This FAQ provides technical and processing information about Greenhouse's features, identity verifications with CLEAR, to support your evaluation the feature.
None of this is intended to be legal advice, neither are any of the answers provided intended to override or contradict the advice of your legal counsel.
Overview
What is Real Talent’s Identity Verification Request with CLEAR?
Greenhouse’s Identity Verification Request with CLEAR helps your team focus on authentic, qualified candidates by mitigating the risk of impersonation, duplicate profiles, and other forms of fraud. It is a core component of Real Talent, a suite of tools engineered to block spam and detect suspicious behaviors. Identity verification operates in partnership with CLEAR, cross-checking information submitted to CLEAR against the candidate’s application data within Greenhouse.
Do identity verifications sent with CLEAR involve AI?
No. There are other AI features within Greenhouse — including Real Talent’s “Talent Matching” feature, but Identity Verification Request with CLEAR does not involve AI.
What identity checks are performed?
- Document authenticity and tampering signals (document proofing).
- Selfie “liveness” detection and ID matching to help prevent spoofing.
- Device trustworthiness signals (e.g., anomalous activity, VPN/proxy usage) captured during the verification process.
- Cross-referencing of the candidate's last name, phone number, and email address against the application data stored by Greenhouse.
Click here to read more about identity verifications with CLEAR.
What ID documents are accepted?
A government-issued ID, such as a passport, is required to complete identity verification. You can view the list of accepted document types for your country here.
CLEAR will not accept identification from users with documents issued by the following countries, even if the user is physically located elsewhere:
- Syria
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Iran
- North Korea
- Cuba
What countries are supported for ID verification based on their device location?
Support for ID verification based on the location of the individual’s device (not their ID document) is the following:
- North America: Supported
- EU + UK (GDPR regions): Supported
- India: Planned to be supported after 1/2/2026
Is CLEAR able to detect and prevent verification using tampered or fake IDs?
CLEAR performs document proofing, which analyzes the ID against unique government ID features to detect fakes and tampering. CLEAR is independently certified by the Kantara Initiative at Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2), with authentication at AAL2, providing third-party assurance on their Identity Verification implementation.
While document proofing is robust, highly sophisticated fraudulent documents may still bypass these checks. Therefore, a layered approach to fraud prevention is critical, with document proofing as one component. Additional layered checks include:
- CLEAR device anomaly detection relating to failed attempts, vpn/proxy usage
- CLEAR selfie liveness checks
- Real Talent fraud analysis checks
Do identity verification requests with CLEAR perform background checks?
No. Identity Verification Request with CLEAR is limited to document/biometric verification and device signals. The Greenhouse integration does not perform checks against third-party databases such as watchlists or criminal records.
It is recommended that Greenhouse users maintain existing background check processes and vendor integrations as part of their layered defense strategy against fraudulent candidates.
Privacy roles and responsibilities
What are the data processing roles between each party?
CLEAR operates as a data controller with a direct relationship with the individual candidate during ID verification.
Greenhouse is the data controller for any data candidates enter into MyGreenhouse and also for the verification result data that is shared with the candidate through the candidate’s MyGreenhouse account.
A customer that initiates a request for CLEAR ID verification associated with a job application is the data controller for the verification results related to that application in the customer’s Greenhouse Recruiting account. Customers do not sign a contract with CLEAR for this feature; the candidate engages CLEAR directly during verification.
How should we handle a candidate’s deletion request related to CLEAR?
To delete data stored by Greenhouse (e.g., the verification result and cross-referenced basic contact fields), customers must utilize the built-in data retention and deletion features. ID verification data is available as an option on the ‘Data to be Deleted’ list.
To delete data collected and controlled by CLEAR (e.g., the ID image, selfie, and associated identity verification artifacts), the individual must exercise their rights directly with CLEAR. CLEAR provides mechanisms for individuals to delete their data.
Greenhouse provides the following FAQ support page for candidates, explaining the ID verification feature and providing instructions on how to fulfill their data privacy rights.
Candidates can delete their account from their profile page for data collected by MyGreenhouse.
How should we handle a candidate’s access request related to CLEAR?
The CLEAR verification data is a personal data option that customers can select when generating a candidate packet within Greenhouse.
Personal data and data flows
What personal data does CLEAR collect during verification?
CLEAR collects the user’s full name, email address, government ID (including the personal data listed on the ID), a selfie, phone number, and IP address.
What data does Greenhouse receive from CLEAR and store within the customer’s account?
Greenhouse receives the verification status and limited fields used for cross-referencing with application data (full name, phone, email, and IP address). We display a pass/fail result for verification checks in the Candidate Profile.
The candidate is presented with a data grant approval screen during the CLEAR® ID verification process that explicitly outlines the data fields Greenhouse will receive.
Does Greenhouse send candidate personal data to CLEAR?
No. Greenhouse does not send candidate information to CLEAR. The candidate directly submits their data to CLEAR during the ID verification process.
Does Greenhouse receive or store ID images or selfies?
No. CLEAR retains the ID image/selfie and related identity artifacts. Greenhouse does not request, receive, or store this data from CLEAR.
Does Greenhouse receive or store any biometric data?
No. Greenhouse does not request, receive, or store biometric data from CLEAR.
Where can I find CLEAR’s privacy notice?
CLEAR’s privacy notice is presented to candidates in the flow and is available at https://www.clearme.com/privacy-policy.
Candidate experience and operations
Where in Greenhouse does verification show up and how is it triggered?
Recruiters can request verification from the Candidate Profile in the Greenhouse application. The verification process is performed by the candidate through MyGreenhouse, our candidate portal, via a guided flow.
You can read more about sending identity requests here. For more information on the candidate's experience, click here.
Can candidates decline verification?
Yes. Candidates can opt out of verification. The decision on how to proceed with a candidate who declines is left to your recruiting team. Greenhouse does not perform candidate rejections on your behalf.
Can CLEAR be used for some jobs or stages only?
Yes. Teams can configure when and where to request verification (e.g., certain offices/departments and stages).
What if a candidate already uses CLEAR?
Existing CLEAR users generally complete a shorter flow (e.g., only a selfie/phone verification), with an automatic "step up" to request an updated ID if required by the existing configuration or due to ID expiration.
Can we use our CLEAR tenant if we are already using them as a vendor for corporate security use cases?
No. Greenhouse’s ID verification feature must be managed exclusively through our CLEAR tenant. We do not integrate with customer-specific CLEAR organization instances.
Security and trust
Who has access to the CLEAR-collected personal data?
CLEAR, as the data controller, holds and secures the identity data (ID image/selfie). Greenhouse receives only limited data and the verification result necessary to inform the hiring team.
Does Greenhouse share candidate personal data from CLEAR to customers?
We display the verification result and limited cross-reference fields in-app to the customer, who becomes the data controller of this data on their Greenhouse tenant data. We do not receive or share ID images or selfies.
Can I limit which employees can interact with the ID verification feature in Greenhouse?
Yes. We provide job admin permission "stripes" to control who can view identity verification details and who can request identity verification details.
Are ID verification results from CLEAR used across customers?
No. ID verification result information is linked only to the specific job application where the verification request was initiated and is not used as a signal across customers. Each ID verification request and check is a unique operation, and we do not save/cache results and share them across customers.
How does Greenhouse & CLEAR keep your data safe?
Data is protected in transit using TLS 1.2+ and is protected at rest by both Greenhouse and CLEAR. Greenhouse adheres to a strict data minimization policy, requesting and receiving only the minimum amount of data collected by CLEAR necessary to power our product features.
Access to data is protected by safeguards such as multi-factor access controls that include device trust. Access to the console is very limited, requiring two levels of approval and quarterly access reviews. Staff members with access to this data must successfully complete a background check before being granted access to any customer data. Additionally, all staff members with customer data access must agree to our written zero-tolerance policy, which defines their responsibilities and the consequences (including, but not limited to, termination of employment) of abusing their access. Both Greenhouse and CLEAR undergo annual SOC 2 Type 2 audits to validate that our organizational security controls are operating as expected.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has certified CLEAR’s information security program at a FISMA High rating and designated CLEAR as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology under the SAFETY Act.