Anonymous company review site Glassdoor can add your real name without telling you

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Glassdoor – a web-based website that permits customers to go away nameless critiques of their earlier employers – is going through criticism after reportedly including names to profiles with out person consent.

The web site, which was launched in 2007, has been accused of placing individuals vulnerable to backlash from employers and never defending their privateness.

The motion was reported by an nameless person, named Monica, who shared the information in a weblog submit titled “Time to delete your Glassdoor account and knowledge”.

Within the prolonged weblog submit, she defined that the corporate now requires customers to incorporate their actual title “and can add it to older accounts with out your consent in the event that they study it”.

“They don’t care that this places individuals in danger with their employers. They don’t care that this appears to run counter to their very own data-privacy insurance policies,” she wrote.

Monica went on to clarify that she had realised the motion had been taken so as to add her actual title to older accounts on Glassdoor after responding to a latest help electronic mail from the corporate.

“I discovered that that they had up to date my profile so as to add my actual title and site, the title pulled from the e-mail ‘From’ line. I by no means gave consent for that change, and mentioned so explicitly after I objected.”

She added: “I used to be so fixated on my title that I didn’t instantly discover my metropolis was there too. I don’t understand how lengthy it’s been there.”

In accordance with Wired, in July final 12 months, Glassdoor added new social options built-in from Fishbowl, an app for work-related discussions acquired in 2021.

The corporate has traditionally solely required electronic mail addresses to arrange accounts however has now modified its sign-up course of to ask individuals to reveal their full title, job title, and employer, the outlet reported.

In her weblog submit, Monica mentioned she had been informed by members of the corporate’s “lead, content material and neighborhood crew” {that a} Fishbowl account had already been arrange for her utilizing her knowledge.

She was finally informed that the one approach to take away the data from the platform can be to delete her account, and the information, totally.

An electronic mail from Glassdoor employees, cited in her weblog submit, learn: “We deal with all customers equally in relation to what’s eligible to be positioned on the profile and what’s not, however we all know that there are occasions our customers, equivalent to your self, might not all the time agree with us.

“If you’re not prepared to permit your title in your profile, you’ll once more want to finish Information erasure as soon as you’ll be able to. Nonetheless, we can’t take away this for you or make the adjustments you want to see on your title.”

The Unbiased has reached out to Glassdoor for touch upon the reported adjustments to person account anonymity.

In a press release to Ars Technica, a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned: “When a person gives data, both throughout the sign-up course of or by importing a resume, that data will routinely cross-populate between all Glassdoor providers, together with our neighborhood app Fishbowl.

“When utilizing Glassdoor and Fishbowl, there’s all the time the choice to stay nameless. Customers can select to be absolutely nameless or reveal parts of their identification, like firm title or job title, whereas utilizing our neighborhood service.”