3 Reasons Why Employers Should Stop Using Indeed in 2026: Part Two

Happy Holidays, Job Board Doctor friends! I hope you are all enjoying a blessed and festive December no matter who, what, or if you celebrate.

Chad and I are sending you all positive energy and light from our home to yours.

Today, we wrap up the 3 Reasons Why Employers Should Stop Using Indeed in 2026. I appreciate the reception so far and have had so many interesting conversations over the past month.

I feel there is a growing collective unity and urgency to wean off our Indeed dependence.

Have they gone too far this time? Will companies walk away? Let’s plan on revisiting that question next year at this time. You in?

If you are not caught up on Part One, check it out, but if you are here for the big data play, this is your week.

TL;DR

Indeed’s disposition sync is not a passive data feature. It is a mandatory, opt-out data transfer that gives Indeed visibility into every applicant, every status change, and every hiring decision across your ATS. That data includes raw disposition status and notes, demographic information, timestamps, and application sources. Once shared, ownership transfers to Indeed. Combined with EEO data, this likely creates real legal, compliance, and bias exposure that employers, not Indeed, will be left to answer for.

In short, employers may find themselves defending decisions using data they no longer own or control.

Reason #3: Indeed’s Big Data Play is Your Potential Legal Risk – Disposition Data

Last week, we covered Indeed’s EEO data collection as the first potential hair-on-fire legal issue of Indeed’s big data play. The pairing of this with the disposition data is where, in my opinion, heads should start exploding.

As I dig deeper into this pure data play by Indeed, it gives me more and more of….what’s the term…….oh, yeah….the ICK.

Integral to this conversation is Indeed’s demand for your COMPLIANCE. The message is simple: send us your disposition data. ALL OF IT.

Here is the exact language provided in the terms and conditions from Indeed. Take a look, and I will meet you on the other side.

Source: Indeed Legal Terms

The concerns I have fall primarily into three categories: Collection Parameters, Data Collected, and Data Ownership.

Collection Parameters

Opt-in/Opt-out: Indeed and your ATS, through implementation of the Indeed ATS integration, opt-in your company to sharing disposition data.

Opt-in is automatic under Indeed’s terms. The ATS must provide an opt-out function within the system or via some other mechanism. So, if you are a super busy, short-staffed, and under-resourced TA team, Indeed and your ATS provider have already made this decision for you. It is up to you, in your spare time, to find it and turn it off, assuming you read every email and system notice.

Disposition status must be turned on for ALL jobs: Not just jobs that are advertised on Indeed, but all jobs.

Remember from last week, they are requiring all jobs on your corporate career site must be shared with Indeed, regardless of the job’s advertising status on Indeed.

Disposition sync is the next piece in the data  puzzle, all of your jobs and all of your applicant data is now available to Indeed.

Frequency and cadence: Indeed also requires the applicant data to be updated daily and must contain a timestamp of the status change.

Data Collected

Disposition timestamps: As applicants go through statuses and eventually are assigned a disposition code within the ATS system, Indeed will receive this information from your ATS.

Disposition Mapping is Already Complete: The ATS maps all disposition statuses to Indeed Disposition status objects as part of integration. It is not up to you.

Raw Disposition Data: However,  Indeed is not just taking rolled-up disposition data. Yes, they are taking disposition data that is mapped to their disposition codes in the API documentation, but the raw disposition data is also a REQUIRED field.

Source: Indeed API Docs

Notice the data collected here:

• The Indeed disposition code
• Raw disposition status, the job application’s RAW disposition status from your ATS.
• Raw disposition details, leave notes on the applicant status and Indeed gets it.
• Time change, see above.
• Application source name

So again, Indeed now has access to EVERY applicant in your ATS, even those from job boards focused on supporting people with disabilities, like Disability Solutions, and they know why or why not your company chose to hire them.

Freaking out yet?

In a review of the identifiers associated with the disposition data, I do not feel confident that even if this data is anonymized for analysis, the raw data along with the unique jobseeker identifier will not be used to train their AI.

First, the jobseeker key. The ID is described by Indeed as, “The ID scalar type represents a unique identifier, often used to refetch an object or as a key for a cache. The ID type appears in a JSON response as a String; however, it is not intended to be human-readable.”.

Of course it isn’t meant to be humanly identifiable, but do you really think their AI cannot associate that jobseeker with that application?

They also use the jobseeker email as an alternate identifier.  Yes, I feel super safe now. (cue the sarcasm)

Source: Indeed API Documentation

Data Ownership

In the end, if you give Indeed your disposition sync data, you are giving them the job post, its unique identifiers, application data from every source, including EEO data, and the reason why you did or did not hire a HUMAN BEING.

Let’s walk through a scenario where EEO data and disposition data are collected in the application process and synced through your company’s ATS.

Scene:  A HUMAN PERSON applies for a job with Acme, Inc.

Through Indeed Apply, the applicant discloses their race and gender. The applicant also happens to have a prior conviction. They are not required to disclose this in the application process.

HUMAN is interviewed and moved to background check status.

What does Indeed see about this candidate?

• Unique identifiers
• Demographic information as filled out in the Indeed Apply process
• Journey through the Acme application process

Potential Disposition Status Signals

Indeed Status: New
Raw Disposition Status: New

Indeed Status: Review
Raw Disposition Status: Being Considered

Indeed Status: Contacted
Raw Disposition Status: Pre-Screen, Phone Interview

Indeed Status: Background Check
Raw Disposition Status: Offered, Background Check

Indeed Status: Not Selected
Raw Disposition Status: Incomplete Background Check, Failed Background Check, Not Selected

What is Indeed going to do with that data?

The answer is, we don’t really know. Indeed says it will be used to improve matching.  What does that really mean, and what are the criteria of that matching?

I don’t know. If you do, tell me.

Is this data available to train Indeed’s AI?

Indeed states they will protect the personal identifier from the EEO data and the disposition data, but a look at the disposition sync API fields does not give confidence that this information is clearly anonymized.

If so, over time, the algorithm learns from all of this combined data and makes inferences from it. Those inferences can exaggerate and scale bias using applicant data your company CHOSE to share with Indeed.

Aside from the potential legal fallout from this type of outcome influencing, do you really want to answer for the optics of it?

Potential Result: Real Societal and Company Risk

Bad: Indeed does not display jobs to certain applicant if they require a background check.

Worse:  The AI infers  humans from a particular race or gender group are more likely to have prior convictions and stops showing them certain content altogether.

Compounding Worse: The AI “learns” people from particular neighborhoods may not be a good fit for your company because it requires a background check.

Do you see where I am going here? It is not hyperbolic. It is not that far off. And it is entirely data YOU chose to share with a third party and then gave that third party ownership over.

Additional Risk for Federal Contractors

For federal contractors, this risk is amplified. Disposition data paired with EEO data can be discoverable in OFCCP audits and discrimination claims, especially when YOUR COMPANY’S decision patterns can be reconstructed by a third party. Sharing raw disposition data outside of your controlled systems may undermine affirmative action plans, record retention strategies, and privilege protections. In short, employers may find themselves defending decisions using data they no longer own or control.

Final Thought

This is the moment where convenience becomes complicity. The deeper Indeed moves into your hiring funnel, the more decision-making authority you quietly hand over.

Do you see how the noose is tightening as we move to higher levels of integration and Indeed moves further down YOUR hiring funnel?

Does Indeed really deserve to demand all of this decision-making authority?

This is no longer about job advertising efficiency. It is about data control, legal exposure, and who ultimately decides which humans are seen, surfaced, or silently filtered out.

If Indeed is asking for this much power, it is worth asking whether they have earned it, and whether your company can afford the consequences of saying yes.

Until Next Year,

Julie “The Doc” Sowash

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Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and you should not construe this to be legal advice. You may however construe it as a kick in the pants to get in front of your corporate attorneys to untangle the reality before you sign those long contracts and submit your company’s data to Indeed.