Some updates on Glassdoor's privacy violations:
Use https://help.glassdoor.com/s/privacyrequest?language=en_US to request deletion of your data. Deactivating your account doesn't delete data. This might not either (no way to verify), but it's the strongest request you can make.
Media coverage: Ars Technica: Users ditch Glassdoor, stunned by site adding real names without consent, Wired: Glassdoor wants to know your real name. The Ars story is more detailed.
It seems that Glassdoor updated its terms of use on February 17, 2024. I did not receive email notification (my last TOS update from them was December 2022). Some salient bits from the current version:
We may update your Profile with information we obtain from third parties. We may also use personal data you provide to us via your resume(s) or our other services. You can read more about how we collect and process your data in our Privacy Policy.
I never provided a resume. I never typed my name into their site, nor did I use a social-media or Google identity. I created the account with an email address (~10 years ago). That part about "obtain from third parties" means they can try to match you up with LinkedIn, use your email headers if you should ever send them email, try to reconcile your account with Indeed if you're there (the same company owns both Glassdoor and Indeed), and whatever else they come up with.
Also, sometimes the information they add is incorrect. From Ars Technica:
As Monica's blog spread widely online, another Glassdoor user, Josh Simmons, commented to confirm that Glassdoor had "already auto-populated details" on his account, too. But instead of correcting Simmons' information, Glassdoor seemed to be adding mistakes to his profile.
Simmons, who requested to use his real name and share his employer information, is a managing director of Matrix.org Foundation. He discovered that Glassdoor had not only messed up his employer's name but also claimed that he was based in London, while he is actually located in California.
"It was bizarre, because I had never provided that information, and it was a somewhat incoherent mix of details," Simmons told Ars.
Back to the terms of use:
We may attempt to verify your employment history or status through various methods, including third party integrations or services. We may also utilize signals we receive from your current or former employer. Glassdoor is not responsible to you or any third party if we are unable to or inaccurately verify your employment history or status.
I don't know what "we may utilize signals we receive from your employer" means, but it sure sounds like "we might ask your employer if you work there", because your employer knowing you've posted Glassdoor reviews to prompt that question would be a "you" problem, not a "Glassdoor" problem.
(This information is repeated in the privacy policy.)
In order to provide you with access to features across our services, we may create and link different services’ accounts for you.
This is the part about them automatically creating a Fishbowl (social media) account on your behalf, without you explicitly doing anything and apparently without direct notification.
A portion of your Profile on our community and conversation services (e.g., Fishbowl and community and conversation features across our services) is always public. Therefore, your profile picture, company name, title, and other general information (but not including your semi-/anonymous Content submissions) will be visible to the public and available via search.. Content submitted with semi-/anonymous identifiers such as your company name or job title is not associated with the publicly-visible portion of your Profile.
So they added my name to my Glassdoor profile without consent, then propagated that to Fishbowl, and the Fishbowl profile was public?!
Glassdoor responded to Ars:
"We vigorously defend our users’ right to anonymous free speech and will appear in court to oppose and defeat requests for user information," Glassdoor's spokesperson said. "In fact, courts have almost always ruled in favor of Glassdoor and its users when we’ve fought to protect their anonymity. With the addition of Fishbowl’s community features to Glassdoor, our commitment to user privacy remains ironclad, and we will continue to defend our users from employers who seek to unmask their identity."
They "vigorously defend" privacy, yet they collect and store information that violates privacy. Also, note that what they're saying is that they'll defend outside requests for data ("almost" always successfully), but they say nothing about their own proactive use of that data -- like selling it to employers.
That data-deletion link once again: https://help.glassdoor.com/s/privacyrequest?language=en_US.
