Compliance

Is It Legal to Use AI to Interview Candidates in 2026?

By Gopika Bohra

7 min read

Published 5 Sept 2026 · Updated 1 Oct 2026

Yes. Using AI to screen resumes and run interviews is legal in the EU, the UK, the US and India, but it comes with duties for the employer. Expect to tell candidates, keep a person responsible for adverse decisions, keep records, and in New York City, publish a bias audit. Buying a compliant tool does not transfer those duties.

If you use an AI screening or interview tool, you are the deployer. The vendor has its own obligations, and so do you.

What does the EU AI Act require, and when?

The EU AI Act lists AI used for recruitment or selection as high-risk in Annex III, point 4. That covers targeting job ads, analysing and filtering applications, and evaluating candidates.

These obligations were due on 2 August 2026, but the Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744), which entered into force in July 2026, moved them for stand-alone high-risk systems to 2 December 2027 (Council of the EU).

From that date, Article 26 requires deployers to use the system according to its instructions, assign human oversight to competent people, keep logs, check that input data is relevant, inform workers' representatives before using it in the workplace, and tell candidates when a high-risk system is used to make or assist decisions about them.

Two parts already apply. Banned practices, including emotion recognition in the workplace, have applied since 2 February 2025. An AI literacy duty also applies, which the Omnibus softened into a duty to take measures that support staff literacy.

What applies in the United States?

There is no single federal AI hiring law. Several state and city rules apply on top of existing anti-discrimination law.

New York City: Local Law 144 has been enforced since July 2023. If you use an automated employment decision tool for NYC candidates, you need an independent bias audit within the past year, a public summary of the results, and notice to candidates at least 10 business days before use. A December 2025 New York State Comptroller audit called enforcement ineffective and the city agreed to tighten it.

Illinois: HB 3773 (Public Act 103-0804) amended the Illinois Human Rights Act from 1 January 2026. Using AI that has a discriminatory effect in hiring is a civil rights violation, using ZIP codes as a proxy for a protected class is banned, and employers must give notice when AI is used. The older AI Video Interview Act adds notice, explanation and consent duties for AI analysis of recorded video interviews.

Colorado: the 2024 AI Act was repealed and replaced in May 2026 by SB26-189, which takes effect on 1 January 2027. It focuses on pre-use notice, an explanation after an adverse decision, and a chance for human review.

California: Civil Rights Council regulations on automated decision systems took effect on 1 October 2025 for employers with five or more employees, and require related records to be kept for four years.

Federal law still applies. The EEOC removed its AI guidance in January 2025, but Title VII, the ADA and the ADEA did not change. Disparate impact from an algorithm is still disparate impact.

What about India?

India has no AI-specific hiring law. Candidate data falls under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The DPDP Rules were notified in November 2025 with a phased rollout, and most obligations, including notice and consent, apply from 13 May 2027. Plan your candidate notices now.

What should employers do in practice?

Four steps cover most of it.

Disclose. Tell candidates before they start that AI is part of the process and what it does.

Keep a person on rejections. Use AI to rank and surface; leave the adverse decision with someone who can see the evidence and overrule the score.

Keep the record. If a candidate or regulator asks why someone was rejected, "the model scored them 61" is not an answer. Keep the transcript, the criteria and who decided.

Check for adverse impact. Compare selection rates across groups at each automated stage. In NYC an annual independent audit is required.

What should you ask an AI hiring vendor?

Does the tool produce a full transcript and per-criterion scores, or just a number? Can you see and edit the questions? Can a person override any automated outcome? How long is data kept, and where? Will the vendor provide the documentation and instructions for use that the EU AI Act expects deployers to rely on?

For a side-by-side example, see GetHirePlus vs HireVue.

How GetHirePlus supports compliance

Every GetHirePlus AI phone interview produces a transcript with per-question scores, so the reasoning behind a shortlist can be inspected. You write the question bank, which keeps the questions job-related.

AI resume screening scores each resume against your job description, and you set the threshold. Decisions are made by your team in the ATS with the transcript and score attached.

This is not legal advice, and it does not replace a bias audit if you hire in New York City. It gives you the disclosure, oversight and records these laws ask for. Check the details with counsel for each jurisdiction you hire in.