You’ve done it. You’ve sat through the demos, negotiated the contracts, and finally picked your new, shiny Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Everyone’s excited. This new platform is going to streamline everything!
Then, a cold chill runs down your spine.
What about the data?
What about the thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of candidate profiles, resumes, interview notes, and old applications sitting in your current system? You can’t just... move it, can you?
If you’re in HR, IT, or legal, you know this isn't a simple "copy-paste" job. This is a compliance minefield.
We’re talking about Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of the most sensitive kind. And when you move it, you trigger a whole host of legal obligations under regulations like the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe and the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).
Get this wrong, and you’re not just looking at a difficult project. You’re looking at a data breach, a catastrophic loss of candidate trust, and fines that can climb as high as 4% of your company's global annual revenue.
So, how do you migrate your entire recruiting history without sleepwalking into a legal disaster?
This article isn't just a checklist. It’s your step-by-step guide to a 100% compliant ATS data migration. We'll walk you through the 7-step, compliance-first framework we've perfected over 750+ custom data migrations, ensuring your new system powers your growth, instead of creating your next big liability.
Section 1: GDPR vs. CCPA: Why Your Candidate Data is a Ticking Time Bomb
First, let's get on the same page. Why is candidate data so much more “special” than, say, migrating your product inventory or your sales pipeline?
Because of one simple fact: You don't own this data. The candidate does.
You are merely a custodian who has been granted temporary permission to process it for a very specific purpose (i.e., hiring them). The moment you move, analyze, or even store that data for any other reason, you're on thin ice.
And regulations like GDPR and CCPA are the guardians of that ice. While they have a lot in common, they protect data in slightly different ways.
🌍 The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
- Who it Protects: Any "data subject" residing in the European Union (EU). And yes, if you have a single resume from a developer in Berlin or a sales rep in Paris, it applies to you.
- The Big Concept: "Lawful Basis for Processing" This is the big one. The GDPR says you must have a legitimate, documented legal reason to have a candidate's data. For recruiting, this is almost always consent.
- The Migration Problem: Did that candidate who applied in 2019 give you consent to be moved to a new system, managed by a new vendor, in 2025? Is their consent still valid? Or did it expire? You must be able to prove this for every single EU candidate you migrate.
- The "Right to be Forgotten" (Article 17) If a candidate asks you to delete their data, you must do it, completely and permanently. But what if their data is in your old system, your new system, and a spreadsheet you used during the migration? This "right" becomes a logistical nightmare.
🌴 The CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)
- Who it Protects: Any resident of California. Given the size of its workforce, you almost certainly have CCPA-protected data in your ATS.
- The Big Concept: "Right to Know" and "Right to Delete" The CCPA is all about transparency and control. A candidate can email you and ask, "What exact pieces of information do you have on me?" You are then legally obligated to provide a full report.
- The Migration Problem: Can you instantly locate, package, and export all data associated with "JaneDoe@gmail.com" from both your old and new systems, including all interview notes and custom fields? What if a candidate makes a "Right to Delete" request during your migration? Which system do you delete from? (The answer is all of them).
So, What's the Real Challenge?
The real challenge is that your database isn't neatly sorted into "GDPR people" and "CCPA people." It's one giant, messy pool of data. This complexity is precisely why you can't just buy a standard, off-the-shelf automated migration tool, click "Go," and hope for the best.
Those tools are built to move fields. They are not built to navigate a complex, overlapping web of international privacy laws. A one-size-fits-all template is a one-way ticket to a compliance violation.
Section 2: The 7-Step Compliance-First Migration Plan
Okay, so the risks are clear. Now for the solution.
A compliant migration isn't just about security (though that's huge). It's a strategic project that blends legal, IT, and HR expertise. Here is the 7-step plan we use at ClonePartner to turn this "impossible" project into an "that was easy" moment.
Step 1. Conduct a Data Audit & Establish "Lawful Basis"
Before you move a single byte, you have to do the "KonMari method" for your data. You can't just shovel 10 years of digital clutter into your pristine new house.
A data audit means asking tough questions:
- What do we have? (Resumes, notes, salary info, diversity data?)
- Where is it? (Is it just in the ATS? Or also in email inboxes and shared drives?)
- Why do we have it? (This is the "lawful basis" question).
For every candidate profile, you must be able to justify why you're keeping it. Is consent still valid? Is there another "legitimate interest"?
This is where automated tools fail at the first hurdle. An automated tool just sees "a field." It can't tell you why that field exists. This is where our engineer-led approach is different. We write custom scripts to analyze your data before the migration, flagging profiles with expired consent, missing data, or high-risk PII, so you can make an informed decision before you move it.
Step 2. Define Your Data Retention Policy (a.k.a. The Great Purge)
This is the single most important step for reducing your risk. Listen closely: You are not legally allowed to be a data hoarder.
Keeping a candidate's resume from 8 years ago "just in case" isn't just bad data hygiene; it's a potential GDPR violation.
Before your migration, you must define and enforce a data retention policy. A simple, defensible policy might be:
"We will archive all candidate profiles with no contact or activity in 24 months. We will permanently and securely delete all archived profiles after 36 months."
The benefit is twofold:
- It’s Your #1 Legal Shield: When a regulator asks why you have certain data, you can present your clear, consistent policy.
- It Makes Your Migration Cheaper & Faster: Why pay to move 200,000 old profiles when you only legally need 50,000?
Step 3. Review Your Vendor Contracts (The DPA Deep-Dive)
You're not just moving data from System A to System B. You're moving it from your legal control into the hands of a new vendor (your new ATS provider).
This relationship is governed by a Data Processing Agreement (DPA). This is the legal contract that details exactly how your new vendor will protect your data. It's not just another "terms and conditions" box to check. You need to know:
- Where will the data be stored? (Is it staying in the EU? Or being moved to the US?)
- Who are their "sub-processors"? (Is their vendor, like AWS, also compliant?)
- What are their security protocols?
This also applies to your migration partner (that’s us!). At ClonePartner, we live and breathe this. We're not just a group of coders; we are a fully compliant partner. We are AICPA SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 certified. We sign DPAs that put your security and compliance at the center of the project, because our own business is built on that trust.
Step 4. Plan for Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)
The migration isn't instant. A complex ATS migration can take several weeks from planning to final cutover. What happens if a candidate emails you with a "Right to Delete" request during that time?
This is a logistical nightmare. Is their data in the old system? The new one? In a staging environment?
You must have a clear "DSAR" plan that covers this "in-flight" period. Your team needs to know exactly who to contact and what the process is to ensure that candidate's data is wiped from all locations (old, new, and staging) before the legal deadline.
Step 5. Use Data Anonymization for ALL Testing (This is Non-Negotiable)
This should be obvious, but it's the most common and dangerous shortcut teams take. Never, ever use live, real candidate data to test your new system.
Using real PII in a "sandbox" or "test" environment is like practicing your new fire suppression system by setting a real fire in your office. It's an uncontained, unnecessary risk. One wrong setting, and your "test" environment could be exposed to the public internet.
This is our bread and butter. Our engineers write custom scripts to anonymize (scramble) or pseudo-anonymize (replace with realistic-but-fake) your data before it ever touches a test environment.
This means you get to test your new system's workflows with data that looks and feels 100% real, but contains 0% of the PII risk. You can confirm your custom fields mapped correctly, your pipelines work, and your reports pull the right data, all with total peace of mind.
This is also why we offer unlimited free sample migrations. We’ll run the anonymized test migration as many times as it takes for you to look at your new system and say, "Yes. That is perfect."
Step 6. Secure the Transfer (Encrypt. Encrypt. Encrypt.)
When the data is finally ready to move, the transfer itself must be a fortress. This isn't the time to export a CSV and email it to your new vendor.
The data must be secured at every single stage:
- At Rest (Old System): Encrypted in your original database.
- In Transit (The Move): Transferred via a secure, encrypted channel (like an SSH File Transfer Protocol or a secure API).
- At Rest (New System): Immediately encrypted upon arrival in the new database.
This is a core pillar of our 100% data security promise and a requirement for our ISO 27001 certification.
Step 7. Create a Secure Deletion Certificate
You're live! The data is in the new system, everyone is trained, and you've shut down access to the old ATS. You're done, right?
Not quite.
You must now provably delete the data from the old system. You can't just let that old instance sit there "just in case." It's a massive security risk and a direct violation of the "data minimization" principle.
We manage this entire process, providing you with a Secure Deletion Certificate at the end. This is a formal document that serves as your legal proof, for regulators, auditors, or your own peace of mind, that the data from the old system was securely and permanently destroyed according to industry best practices.
The "Gotcha": Why Your Automated Tool Can't Do This
You might be looking at that 7-step list and thinking, "Wow, that's complex. My $99/month automated migration tool's marketing page said this was just three easy clicks."
This is the big secret of the data migration industry. Those tools are fine for moving 1,000 blog posts. They are dangerously inadequate for moving sensitive, regulated candidate data.
Why?
- The "One-Size-Fits-None" Template: Automated tools are built on a rigid, standard template. They assume your "Candidate Stage" field is the same as every other company's. But what about your 12 custom recruiting stages? Your unique "DE&I Sourcing" custom field? Your specific way of linking candidates to requisitions? An automated tool will either break, ignore, or, worst of all, mis-map that data. A mis-mapped field (like putting a salary note in a public comment) isn't just an error; it's a data breach.
- They Can't Handle the "Purge" (Step 2): Those tools are built to move everything. They have no sophisticated logic to help you analyze your data and selectively migrate only the compliant profiles based on your new retention policy. They are a shovel, not a scalpel.
- They Are a "Black Box": When a regulator asks how the data was validated, secured, and anonymized during the transfer, "I clicked 'Go' on a tool" is not a defensible answer. You have no audit trail, no custom logs, and no expert to vouch for the process.
This is precisely why we built ClonePartner. We are not a tool. We are an engineer-led service.
We’ve seen it all. We’ve worked with over 500+ different apps and their unique, quirky data structures. Our expert engineers don't rely on a template. They write custom scripts from scratch, tailored specifically to your unique business logic, your custom fields, and your compliance rules.
And here's the best part: we provide this bespoke, white-glove, engineer-led service at a cost that is typically similar to or less than those inflexible automated tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion: Make Compliance Your Foundation, Not an Add-On
You can't "bolt on" compliance at the end of a migration. It has to be woven into the project from the very first discovery call.
This isn't just an IT project. This is a trust project. You are safeguarding the personal, sensitive information of every person who has ever applied to work with you. A successful, compliant migration is a sign of a mature, responsible, and trustworthy organization.
At ClonePartner, we’ve turned over 750 of these complex, high-stakes migrations into "that was easy" moments for our clients. We handle the complexity so you can focus on what you do best: building a world-class team.
Don't let your ATS migration become your next big legal headache. Let's do it right, together.
Ready to Build Your Compliant Migration Plan?
Worried about your upcoming ATS migration? Don't be.
Let's talk. Book a free, no-obligation consultation with our migration experts today. We'll review your systems, identify your compliance risks, and design a custom migration plan that is 100% secure, 100% accurate, and 100% compliant.
P.S. Worried about more than just compliance? Check out our complete guide on the 5 "Gotchas" in ATS Migration: Tackling Custom Fields, Integrations, and Compliance.