Ukraine interview recording laws: the personal data law, the Ombudsman and US-hosted transcripts

In Ukraine, recording a job interview is governed mainly by data protection law. Article 32 of the Constitution bars collecting, storing or using confidential information about a person without their consent except as the law provides, and the Law on Personal Data Protection requires a legal ground for processing and a notice at the moment of collection: who holds the data, what is collected, why, who receives it and the person's rights. The Ombudsman, who supervises the law, says recording at work must, as a general rule, be open rather than hidden. Tell the candidate, ask, and keep the recording briefly. This is the position as of November 2026.

This page adds Ukraine to our country series alongside Poland, Romania and Hungary. It is for recruiters, agency consultants and hiring managers who interview candidates located in Ukraine by video or phone, including from the US. Ukraine is not in the EU, so the GDPR does not apply to a Ukrainian employer as such; its own 2010 law does, and a GDPR-style replacement is still before parliament.

Ukraine's rules at a glance

Is it legal to record a job interview with a candidate in Ukraine?

Yes, if you treat the recording as personal data and handle it the way the law requires. The Ombudsman's 2024 recommendations quote Article 32 of the Constitution: "No one may be subjected to interference in his or her personal and family life, except in cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine. The collection, storage, use and dissemination of confidential information about a person without his or her consent shall not be permitted, except in cases determined by law, and only in the interests of national security, economic welfare and human rights." A voice recording of an interview, and a transcript of it, hold exactly that kind of information.

The Ombudsman's 2022 explanation on surveillance adds the criminal-law backstop. It lists liability under article 188-39 of the Code of Administrative Offenses ("violation of legislation on personal data protection") and articles 182 ("violation of the inviolability of private life") and 359 ("illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of obtaining information") of the Criminal Code, and notes that obtaining information with covert technical means carries criminal liability under article 359. Recording openly, with the candidate's agreement, keeps you well away from all three.

What does the personal data law require before you record?

Two things: a legal ground and a notice. On the ground, the Ombudsman writes that "the consent of the data subject is only one of six grounds for processing personal data provided for by article 11" of the Law on Personal Data Protection, and that where a ground in points 2 to 6 of article 11(1) applies, processing takes place without consent. On the notice, article 12(2), as the Ombudsman quotes it, requires the data subject to be told "about the owner of personal data, the composition and content of the personal data collected, their rights defined by this Law, the purpose of collecting personal data and the persons to whom their personal data are transferred," and to be told "at the moment of collection" when the data is collected from the person. For an interview, that is a short spoken notice before you start recording, backed by a written candidate privacy notice in the invitation.

Should you rely on consent?

For candidates, usually yes, as long as it is real. The Ombudsman's 2022 explanation says that consent as a basis "must be free and voluntary," meaning "the person must be guaranteed a choice." For existing employees it goes further: it calls it incorrect for employers to obtain employees' consent to filming, saying this "would contradict the law," notes that employers usually justify cameras as a working condition and a need to protect their legitimate interests, and points them instead to a documented assessment of those interests. A candidate is not yet in that dependent position, so a freely given yes is easier to show, but the same logic applies: say that refusing has no effect on the application, and have a way to continue with notes. The 2024 recommendations add that a person's statutory rights may not be made conditional on consenting.

What does the Ombudsman say about recording at work?

The 2022 explanation, "Video surveillance cameras: what everyone should know to protect their privacy," is written about cameras, but its rules for the workplace map onto recorded calls:

• No hidden recording. "As a general rule, no" to hidden cameras in offices; only open recording, so the worker knows and is informed of the working conditions (it cites article 29 of the Labor Code).
• What the notice covers. The purpose, the legal basis, the parameters of the system, including "whether sound is recorded," the monitoring time, the person's rights, how the data is processed and protected, who has access, and "the period of storage and destruction of the data."
• Proportionality first. Assess in each case whether the aim can be achieved by other means; the explanation sets out the European Court of Human Rights' criteria from López Ribalda v. Spain, which it says Ukrainian employers must also take into account.
• Paperwork. A written assessment of legitimate interests, a clause in the internal labor rules, a privacy policy, a record that staff have read it, an order naming who may access recordings, and training.

If your recruiters' own calls are recorded or analyzed, those steps apply to them as employees.

Can candidates get the recording or the transcript?

Yes. The 2022 explanation lists the rights in article 8 of the Law, including to know who holds the data and why, who it is passed to, to receive "not later than 30 calendar days from the day the request is received" an answer on whether the data is processed and its content, to object, to demand correction or destruction of data processed unlawfully, and "to know the mechanism of automated processing" and be protected from an automated decision with legal consequences. In an April 2025 statement, the Ombudsman summarized the timing: within 10 working days of a request, the data owner tells the person whether it will be granted, with the legal grounds for any refusal, and the request is satisfied within 30 calendar days. Our candidate data access requests guide has a workflow.

How long can you keep interview recordings?

Set a period and say it up front. The Ombudsman expects notices to state the storage period and how data is destroyed, and its access-request form asks the data owner for "the storage periods and procedures for deleting my data." A defensible approach is a fixed period tied to the hiring decision, with audio deleted first; keeping a candidate for future roles is a new purpose that needs a new agreement. Our retention policy template gives the structure.

Can you store recordings with a US vendor?

Check before you do. The Ombudsman's recommendations on cross-border transfer (2021) explain that under the current Law, personal data is transferred to foreign parties "only on condition that the relevant state ensures adequate protection of personal data," that states of the European Economic Area and states that signed Council of Europe Convention 108 are recognized as providing adequate protection, and that the list of other adequate states is set by the Cabinet of Ministers, which, at the time, "is absent." Check whether your recording, transcription or tracking vendor stores data in an EEA state or a Convention 108 country; if it does not, take advice on the Law's other transfer conditions and get the candidate's explicit agreement to the transfer. Your own state's law also governs your side of the call; see two-party consent states.

Is Ukraine changing its data protection law?

Yes, slowly. A transcript of the Verkhovna Rada human rights committee's meeting of December 3, 2025 records that the current Law makes the Ombudsman the supervisor, that bill No. 8153 would restate the Law in a new version and bill No. 6177 would create a National Commission for Personal Data Protection and Access to Public Information, and that the committee voted to hand bill No. 8153 to the legal policy committee for its second reading. Until a new law is adopted and in force, the 2010 Law and the Ombudsman's guidance apply.

Can you use AI note takers or transcription?

Yes, on the same footing: notice at the start, a legal ground, a transfer check for the vendor, and short retention. Tell the candidate if software produces a transcript or a score, keep a human decision, and remember the right to know the mechanism of automated processing. Interview Signal, for example, captures audio on the interviewer's own computer with no bot joining the call, shows a read-aloud consent line with a one-click pause, and does not retain audio after transcription; the transcript is still personal data under the rules above.

A consent line for interviews with candidates in Ukraine

Перш ніж почати: я хотів(-ла) б [записати нашу розмову / зробити її
розшифровку за допомогою програми], щоб точно зафіксувати ваші
відповіді. Ми використаємо [запис / розшифровку] лише для цього
відбору, покажемо лише [клієнту / керівнику, який ухвалює рішення],
зберігатимемо у [постачальник, країна] і видалимо через [строк] після
завершення відбору. Ви погоджуєтеся? Ви можете відмовитися або
попросити зупинити запис у будь-який момент, і це ніяк не вплине на
розгляд вашої кандидатури.

(Before we start: I'd like to [record our conversation / make a
transcript of it with software] so I capture your answers accurately.
We'll use the [recording / transcript] only for this selection, show it
only to [the client / the hiring manager], store it with [vendor,
country] and delete it [period] after the selection ends. Do you
agree? You can say no or ask me to stop at any time, and it won't
affect how your application is considered.)

More wording is in the interview recording consent script.

Checklist before you record interviews in Ukraine

• Candidate told at the start who holds the recording, what is captured, why, who receives it and their rights.
• Legal ground recorded; if consent, refusal has no consequences and notes are the alternative.
• Only open recording of calls you take part in; no covert devices.
• Storage period stated in the notice; audio deleted early.
• Access requests acknowledged within 10 working days and satisfied within 30 calendar days.
• Vendor storage country checked against the adequacy rules; explicit agreement for other transfers.
• Recruiters' own call recording documented as workplace monitoring.