The leading employer review site is facing a crisis of trust among its users after being accused of betraying their anonymity to bosses.
Glassdoor, which has 2.5 million employer profiles, built its fortune by allowing users to leave anonymous online reviews of their workplaces.
But it is facing scathing criticism after being accused of adding users’ real names to some profiles, putting them at risk of retaliation from the companies under scrutiny.
“Big mistake,” user Monica wrote after finding her own name added to her profile.
“They don’t care that it puts people at risk from their employers, they don’t care that it seems to go against their own data privacy policies.”
Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong has grown the company into one of the largest brands online with 55 million monthly users.
The company is now accused of betraying trust and compromising user anonymity.
The employer review site is now attracting its own scathing online reviews.
The company began requiring full names, job titles and employer information from new users in July.
Previously, users could use the website with just an email address, but the change was made after Glassdoor acquired business app Fishbowl and began integrating its features onto its site.
Existing users who attempted to log in were informed that “entering your real name is required to verify your profile”, but were reassured that “other users will not see your name unless you choose to share it.”
Monica said in a detailed blog post that after she emailed Glassdoor about a “problem with her account,” she discovered that the company had taken her real name and location from her email and added them to their account profile without their consent.
“I received a response from the manager, content and community team who informed me that although they were “required” to add my name to my profile, it would not affect the anonymous reviews that I had published in the past,” she wrote.
“Well, I hope not!” But still, I said, storing my name with this data puts me in danger.
“I pointed out that we’ve seen plenty of evidence that anyone with a juicy online database can be hacked, and that the mere presence of this unintended data was a problem.”
The warning sparked horror among many of Glassdoor’s 55 million monthly users, who have long assumed that anonymity gives them the security to leave honest, candid accounts of their workplaces with potential employees. .
Some pointed out that anonymous reviews were still a source of abuse.
“An incredibly bad decision. Tear down Glassdoor,” Chris Noel wrote.
“How to delete Glassdoor comments, asking a lot of friends,” added Mick Baccio.
“As a very infrequent user of Glassdoor, wasn’t the main purpose of their site supposed to allow anonymous reviews of work environments? » » asked @waldorfsixpence.
Glassdoor told users it must now verify identities to “ensure our users can engage in authentic, candid conversations with other professionals, colleagues, and business leaders in a safe space.”
Some have admitted that anonymity has its own drawbacks, allowing for malicious reviews from disgruntled employees and astrological reviews from companies themselves.
“At least for business valuation purposes, the value of the site will plummet,” Shawn Augsburger wrote.
“To be fair, they had to be taken with a grain of salt as I know some organizations were intentionally creating false positive reviews.
“On the other hand, I was never sure that they really did much to verify that the evaluators actually worked there.”
A Glassdoor spokeswoman said Wired that its purchase of Fishbowl meant that user information had to be shared on its platforms, but that users retained the option to remain anonymous.
“When a user provides information, either during the registration process or by uploading a resume, that information will automatically be transmitted to all Glassdoor services, including our Fishbowl community app,” she wrote.
“Users can choose to be completely anonymous or reveal elements of their identity, such as their company name or job title, when using our community service.”
But others were despaired by the difficulty of keeping private information private online.
“I’m so glad I never posted anything of value on Glassdoor and deleted my data there, but now I have to figure out how to extend this request to ‘affiliates,'” Bruno J. Navarro tweeted.
“Great job, everyone.”
“I want to delete my Glassdoor account but I only have the option to deactivate it,” added @mwallaby93.
“You have to give your first and last name to contact Glassdoor, which is why I want to remove the thing in the first place.”
In a statement to Dailymail.com, the company said: “Glassdoor is committed to providing a platform for people to share their opinions and experiences about their jobs and businesses, anonymously – without fear of intimidation or of retaliation.
“User reviews on Glassdoor have always been and always will be anonymous. In the Glassdoor community, users always have the choice to post with their name or post anonymously with their company name or job title.
“Glassdoor has never and will never reveal a user’s name alongside their content unless that is what the user chooses.”