Glassdoor, a website that allows employees to anonymously complain about their workplace without fear of retaliation, reportedly publishes real names in employee profiles, raising concerns that their identities could be exposed. has caused a viral backlash.
The changes began last July when Glassdoor’s parent company, Recruit, added social features to the site integrated from Fishbowl, a work-related discussion app that Glassdoor acquired in 2021.
To sign up for a Glassdoor account, employees had to identify their full name, job title, and employer. This is a departure from previous practice, which only asked for an email address and not a name. According to WIRED.
Users who returned to Glassdoor who had not uploaded their full name saw a pop-up message that read: “You’ll need to enter your real name to verify your profile, but other people won’t see your name unless you choose to share.”
Glassdoor users who post employer reviews remain anonymous, but the company’s new policy of collecting and verifying real names has raised concerns about potential privacy violations.
An anonymous blogger named “Monica” posted a lengthy account titled “It’s time to delete your Glassdoor account and data.”
In the blog entry, The date was March 12thdetailed how Monica contacted Glassdoor about an “account-related issue” using her real name attached to her email provider.
“Big mistake,” she wrote.
Monica accused Glassdoor of adding her real name, gleaned from email correspondence, to her account without her consent.
“They don’t care that this puts people at risk with their employers,” she wrote. “They don’t care that this seems to go against their data privacy policy.”
The Post has reached out to Glassdoor for comment.
Several other Glassdoor users posted messages on social media accusing the company of adding their real names without their consent.
X user Bruno J. Navarro posted a screenshot showing he deleted his Glassdoor account after another X user warned him that the site was “retroactively adding people’s real names to their accounts.” did.
Glassdoor’s help page includes an explanation of the new policy. The company says it needs to verify users’ identities to “enable users to have authentic and candid conversations with other experts, colleagues, and company leaders in a safe space.”
Glassdoor spokeswoman Amanda Livingard told WIRED that the site’s acquisition of Fishbowl has changed the way it displays user information.
“When users provide information during the sign-up process or by uploading a resume, that information is automatically cross-populated across all Glassdoor services, including our community app Fishbowl,” she said.
Livigood added that users of both Glassdoor and Fishbowl have “the option to remain anonymous.”
“Users can choose to remain completely anonymous or reveal elements of their identity, such as company name or job title, when using community services,” she told WIRED.
