Glassdoor, a platform for publishing anonymous reviews of employers, has started adding real names to users’ profiles without their consent.
Therefore, some people are openly calling for the deletion of their accounts and data on the site.
One of the first people to become seriously concerned about the problem was Monica. She shares her story shared on his personal blog.
Why did this happen?
For years, Glassdoor has allowed users to register anonymously.
But in 2021, Glassdoor acquired Fishbowl. In July, it integrated with Glassdoor. This meant that every Glassdoor user automatically received a Fishbowl account. And since Fishbowl requires users to verify their identity, the Glassdoor terms of service have changed as well.
Save cannot be deleted
Monica joined Glassdoor about 10 years ago, leaving several reviews of her employers. This month, however, she contacted customer service to request that some of her publicly available information be removed.
She did so because she felt that the privacy policy Glassdoor has the following to say: «If we have collected and processed your personal information with your consent, you can delete it at any time».
But instead, the Glassdoor support team took her real name, which she had provided in her email, and added it to her profile.
«Since we require all users to have their names on their profiles, we’ll need to update your profile,» one of the Glassdoor employees wrote to her.
The company itself assures that the employer does not see this personal information.
This is despite the fact that Monica has repeatedly and explicitly disagreed with Glassdoor’s retention of her real name: «I would delete my account before allowing it».
«Glassdoor now requires your real name and will add it to old accounts without your consent. Your only recourse is to delete your account…», she admitted.