Glassdoor Is Reportedly Acquiring Full Names Of Its Users And Attaching Them To The Backend Of Their Profiles, Which Has Reviewers Terrified
NY Post - Glassdoor, the website that allows workers to anonymously complain about their workplaces without fear of retribution, is reportedly revealing staffers’ real names in their profiles — prompting a viral backlash over fears that their identities could be exposed.
The shift began last July when the site added social features integrated from Fishbowl, an app for work-related discussions that Glassdoor’s parent company, Recruit, acquired in 2021.
Signing up for an account on Glassdoor required workers to reveal their full name, job title and employer — a departure from its previous practice of just requiring email addresses but no names, according to Wired.
Returning users to Glassdoor who hadn’t uploaded their full names were met with a pop-up message that read: “Entering your real name is required to verify your profile but other users won’t see your name unless you choose to share it.”
While Glassdoor users who post reviews of employers remain anonymous, the company’s new policy of collecting and verifying real names has prompted worries over potential violations of privacy.
If you're unfamiliar with Glassdoor, it's a website that is primarily used for disgruntled employees to anonymously get work complaints off their chest.
Does your cubicle neighbor's sudden obsession with Indian food result in a smell worse than death wafting through the office every day at precisely 1:15 PM? Give him a piece of your mind with having to take accountability for your words on Glassdoor.com.
Did your sales manager implement a new set of goals that will significantly cut into your daily 4 hours of Reddit time? Keep your job safe & Reddit karma in tact by posting a series of 1-star reviews that will make your company look like such a miserable place to work that there's not a snowball's chance in hell your manager will EVER be able to hire a legitimate replacement you when you inevitably miss your target by SEVERAL thousand dollars
Or did that cunt Vivian in accounting refuse to approve your expense report when you attempted to submit a receipt for 60 top-shelf tequila sodas during the annual sales conference in Phoenix? Even though you were entertaining client, and literally just doing your job to the best of your ability? What are you supposed to do, build rapport with people sober? That's fucking asinine. Just because you didn't get a single sale out of it doesn't mean it wasn't worth your while. Sales can be a slow burn. Who the fuck is Vivian to withhold your money. Take to Glassdoor, call her out by name, and teach that bitch a lesson by levying a vicious sexual harassment accusation against her.
I haven't used Glassdoor much in my life, but as I understand it, these are the types of things it's good for. As a matter of fact, the only time I've used Glassdoor in my life was when I was working a door-to-door "construction sales" job at a company out in Los Angeles (a company that's VERY much out of business by now). Our boss would instruct us to create fake email addresses, and file as many positive reviews as possible. He'd pay us $10 per review. He wanted to make the company seem legitimate. We WERE NOT legitimate. My job was to knock on doors and say "Hello good sir or ma'am, I couldn't help but notice your [pick a shitty part of their house to say you can fix] are run down, would you like us to come fix them." Then they'd say no and I'd move on to the next house. And if I somehow did happen to get a yes, I just had to be sure it wasn't for a person of Indian or Middle Eastern descent. The owner was severely racist and refused to work with "that part of the world" under any circumstances. They sure did have some great reviews though.
But now... somewhere in the annals of Glassdoor.com, every scathing, libelous review you've ever let fly in the heat of the moment can be traced back to your god given name.
Now to be fair, when I first saw this story, I thought what was being reported was much worse than it is. The way the story was plastered a top the NY Post, with a title about "real names" implied to me that there was some sort of actual data breach, or that anybody could simply click the profile attached to a review and uncover the name of the reviewer. That's not the case at all. Only Glassdoor will know who you are. Other users or employers wont be able to find it. At least not through any legitimate means.
Even if you have a Glassdoor account, but haven't yet volunteered your name, it's quite possible they've already figured it out. At least according to Monica.
An anonymous blogger who goes by the name “Monica” posted a lengthy account titled, “Time to delete our Glassdoor account and data.”
The blog entry, which was dated March 12, detailed how Monica contacted Glassdoor for “an account-related issue” using her real name that was attached to her email provider.
“Big mistake,” she wrote.
Monica accused Glassdoor of taking her real name gleaned from the email exchange and adding it to her account without her consent.
“They do not care that this puts people at risk with their employers,” she wrote. “They do not care that this seems to run counter to their own data-privacy policies.”
The Post has sought comment from Glassdoor.
Several other Glassdoor users posted messages on social media accusing the company of adding their real names without their consent.
The thought now is that it's only a matter of time before there actually is some sort of data breach, or some employer with enough pull will be able to attach names to reviews. Which seems to be a scary proposition for many people. There certainly are hackers out there capable of breaking into Glassdoor's back end. I'm also certain there are piece of shit employers who go to extensive means to uncover the names of people behind reviews. At least that's what everybody is scared of. That someday Jeff Bezos will pay them to learn that 3 years back when you were working for Amazon about how your assembly line manager was unnecessarily handsy during your morning penis checks, and somehow that will result in you losing your job? I guess.
Obviously I'm trying to be funny, probably unsuccessfully, using stupid ass examples. But the work force is up in arms. Glassdoor is a sacred place for the working class. It's the only place you can go to vent anonymously, and give you some semblance of a sense of control, or power over your place of employment. Like you have some sort of impact or ability to make a change, even if that's not even close to the case. People need that. It's crucial. 90% of people in the world hate their fucking jobs. Glassdoor is place people can safely get shit off their chest. If you take that away from people, because they think they'll someday be exposed, our whole economy might come crashing down (hyperbole).