Glassdoor sparked public ire after it covertly added users’ real names, jobs, and job titles to their previously anonymous profiles. While Glassdoor tried to reassure users that the move isn’t a big deal and that their reviews will remain anonymous, users are understandably unsettled by the company unmasking their identities. Headlines such as “If you’ve left a bad review on Glassdoor, you may want to delete your account” are driving account deletions, including one user who called the change a “betrayal of trust.”
Glassdoor’s response to user outrage has further damaged customer trust. It brushed off users’ concerns, saying that it uses this data to verify users’ identities and that anonymity will still be protected (with no clarification on what that means). And users’ only method for removing this information from their profiles is to delete their account.
If this Reddit ad is any indicator, competitors smell blood in the water:
Glassdoor’s haphazard decisions about how to handle customer data conflict with a core proponent of the platform’s value proposition: anonymity. But all companies should take note: Capturing and using customers’ data haphazardly is a recipe for disaster. Just because you have customers’ data doesn’t mean you should use it. And if you use customers’ information in ways they don’t expect, they’ll get upset!
We’ve seen this time and time again, such as DoorDash sharing customer data unexpectedly with a marketing co-op and telehealth startups sending patients’ mental health assessments to Facebook, Google, and other advertising partners. In Glassdoor’s case, one user says she contacted customer service with an email address that had her name associated with it. She later found that her name was added to her profile without her consent. In other cases, users have no idea where Glassdoor sourced the data, and it isn’t always accurate.
Make sure you have a data strategy that examines not only how a customer’s data will benefit your company but also how you’ll use it to deliver value back to the customer. Otherwise, you risk a public backlash, loss of customer trust, and regulatory investigations and fines.
