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substance abuser of the popular site Glassdoor , which lets anyone anonymously sign up to retrospect companies they have work for , say Glassdoor collect and added their names to their user profiles without their consent .
One substance abuser , who pop off by Monica , write in a post on her personal web log that Glassdoor add her name and the city where she lives to her Glassdoor profile observe an email exchange with Glassdoor customer reinforcement , despite having never provided her name during the sign up - up cognitive operation some age earlier . Monica , whose last name we ’re not put out to protect her seclusion , accuse Glassdoor of get her full name from the electronic mail she transmit to client living , which she aver they added to her Glassdoor profile .
“ My electronic mail ‘ from ’ line arrest my full name — never mean that would be a trouble ! ” Monica told TechCrunch in an e-mail . “ They then added my name to my Glassdoor profile . ”
Monica repeatedly dissent Glassdoor , telling client living that the troupe did not have her consent or permit to do this . But Glassdoor said Monica was “ required ” to have her name added to her profile , add that this would not compromise her anonymity of preceding reviews she gave . Monica said that her anonymity might not last if Glassdoor was to experience a hack or a data breach and compromise users ’ data point . It also mean this information can be incur by sound cognitive operation , such as a lawsuit or law demanding access to Glassdoor user data .
As Monica explicate , Glassdoor will add a substance abuser ’s real name ( and potentially other information ) to the drug user ’s account without their license if Glassdoor learns it .
And the only other choice is to cancel your account , Monica said .
Glassdoor exploiter expressed alarm at Monica ’s level , which has been wide shared on social media and news show - sharing sites , for fear that their anonymity could be compromised by having datum collected about them and tot to their profiles , as well .
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Glassdoor has long allowed substance abuser to sign up anonymously . In 2021,Glassdoor bought Fishbowl , a semi - anonymous professional social connection site that allows user to “ ask questions without disclose your name . ” Ars Technica , whichfirst reportedMonica ’s floor , explained that Fishbowl requires users to verify their identity element before using the site . As part of the accomplishment bargain , Glassdoor signed every drug user up for a Fishbowl report , meaning Glassdoor would have to change its terms of service so that every Glassdoor user could also be verified .
Aaron Mackey , an lawyer with the digital right grouping Electronic Frontier Foundation , told TechCrunch that Glassdoor has been an “ industry loss leader ” in defending its users ’ anonymity . Mackey previously support an anon. Glassdoor exploiter in motor lodge whose employertried to uncloak and place their identity operator .
“ We trust that Glassdoor will continue to defend its users ’ namelessness in court , ” said Mackey . “ But the late intelligence regarding Glassdoor ’s policies raises concerns about whether users may be distinguish even if their information is never sought by an employer or law enforcement . Those policies also appear to conflict with , or at least be in tenseness with , Glassdoor ’s goal of promote employees to candidly review their employers . ”
In some cases , the data supply to the substance abuser ’s visibility did not completely line up .
Josh Simmons said Glassdoor append information about him to his profile without his consent , key out it as a “ breach of confidence . ” Simmons told TechCrunch that he did not know how Glassdoor got his personal datum .
“ It ’s not vindicated to me how they got this information , ” Simmons told TechCrunch . “ I did n’t have any societal accounts connected to Glassdoor , and I had n’t used the divine service in several years , ” intimate that the information may have been scraped or come from a data broker .
Simmons enunciate his supplemented Glassdoor profile had an “ incoherent mix of details , but each detail was correct in isolation , ” line how Glassdoor got the name of his consultancy right but jumbled his location in California with his primary customer based in London .
“ Taken together , it signaled to me that it was the answer of an automated process , ” Simmons said .
By Glassdoor ’s own admission , the companysays on its websitethat it is “ unable to fully sustain our users ’ identities , the truthfulness of their contributions , or their employment status . ” It ’s not clear what the goal of Glassdoor ’s data aggregation is if the information is not exact .
When reached for remark , Glassdoor interpreter Amanda Livingood would not do TechCrunch ’s specific questions , including how — if at all — Glassdoor verifies the truth of the information it receives , or how it can be used or obtained . Glassdoor does not publish a transparency written report detailing the number of requests for user data it receive from law enforcement .
Instead , the fellowship provided a boilerplate statement :
Glassdoor is committed to put up a platform for masses to share their opinions and experience about their jobs and company , anonymously – without fear of deterrence or retaliation . User follow-up on Glassdoor have always and will always be anon. . In the Glassdoor community , substance abuser always have the choice to carry with their name or send anonymously with their party name or job title . Glassdoor has never and will never divulge a substance abuser ’s name alongside their subject matter , unless that is what the user prefer .
Mackey said that the risk of data breaches or legal demands are magnified because Glassdoor is now amass more data about drug user that could identify them . “ But because Glassdoor now collects that data , including from email addresses and headers , Glassdoor now has data that directly identifies their substance abuser , ” Mackey said .
That leaves user like Monica with no option but to delete their account if they are not unforced to have their name on their profile . And so Monica did .
According to Monica , closing your account just inactivate it . If you want to fully blue-pencil your Glassdoor account , you’re able to head over tothis specific Glassdoor seclusion asking pageand fill out the data request form with the appropriate selection , such as “ blue-pencil my personal datum . ”
To contact this newsman , get in mite on Signal and WhatsApp at +1 646 - 755 - 8849 , orby electronic mail . you may also send file and documents viaSecureDrop .
