Glassdoor, the website that allows Australian workers in retail and technology as well as distribution and service industries, to anonymously complain about their bosses or the work culture of a Company, has a major problem with the Company revealing the real names of people who have complained about their managers or the business where they work, often on the basis of anonymity.
The decision has caused a viral backlash over fears that their identities could be exposed with some revelations potentially being the basis of a deformation claim against them and Glassdoor.
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 according to the New York Times.
Howe the site works is that visitors have to give their real name and contact details or log in with a Google ID.
Now former contributors are fleeing Glassdoor en masse due to the change in their data and privacy policies and the fact that previous comments could expose people to a deformation claim and potential court action.
Returning users to Glassdoor who hadn’t uploaded their full names are today asked to fill in missing details with a met with a pop-up message claiming: “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.
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.
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.”
Glassdoor has not responded to requests for comment with some insiders claiming that the issue relates to the fact that in some Countries including Australia an organisation along with their directors can be sued by organisations for comments that are not true or cannot be proven.
