Control your privacy series. How to Delete Your Glassdoor Account and Remove All Data

Glassdoor is a great place to read company reviews, search for jobs, and share your thoughts, with nearly 44 million monthly visits. Its popularity is due to the fact that it lets people share honest reviews about their jobs anonymously and without worrying about backlash.

But recently, Glassdoor's promise of anonymity has come into question. One user discovered that her real name, which she shared with customer support, was linked to her account without her knowledge. While others couldn't see it, just knowing it was attached to her account raised concerns about privacy and potential data breaches.

Situations like this are a good reminder to be careful about how much we share online. With data breaches becoming more common, it's important to know what companies are doing with your information. Glassdoor's track record, including a 2016 incident where they accidentally exposed 600,000 users' email addresses, shows how important it is to stay on top of your data security.

How to Protect Your Privacy on Glassdoor

Want to stay anonymous on Glassdoor? Here are some tips:

1. Sign Up with Email, Not Social Media

When creating an account, use your email instead of linking it to Facebook or Google. This keeps your personal info separate from your social media profiles and reduces how much data is shared.

2. Review Anonymity: Each review type requires different fields to be completed.

• Company review - both the location and job title fields are optional.

The job function field is required if the job title field is left blank. If the job title field is completed, the job function field will not show.

• Interview review - the location field is optional, but the job title field is required.
• Benefits review - the location field is required, but the job title field is optional.
• Salary - the location and title fields are both required.

If you provide the location or your job title when the fields are not required, they will be published with your review and could indirectly identify you, which is why you have the option to leave those fields blank.

3. Review Resume Visibility: If you upload your resume, it won't be visible to employers unless you give explicit consent. You can adjust this in your Profile under Job Preferences.

• Employers can see your resume when you submit it directly with a job application.
• Resumes uploaded to Glassdoor are used to pre-fill subsequent Easy Apply job application forms.
• Resumes uploaded to Glassdoor are not searchable by other users.

4. Regularly Review Privacy Policies

• Glassdoor, like many other platforms, may update its privacy policy from time to time. Make it a habit to review the policy and stay informed about how your data is being used.

Related: The Wolf in Recruiter's Clothing: Identifying Fake Jobs on Indeed

How to Delete Your Glassdoor Account

If you've decided to delete your Glassdoor account, the process is relatively straightforward.

1. Log into your Glassdoor account.
2. Click on the account icon in the top right corner of the page.
3. From the drop-down menu, select Settings.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the account settings page and click Deactivate Account.
5. You'll be asked to sign in again and confirm that you want to delete your account and any contributions you've made to the platform.

Once completed, your account will be deactivated. If you ever wish to return, you can create a new account with the same email address, but you'll need to start from scratch.

Related: Pay to Work? Scammers Impersonating Recruiters Steal Your Crypto Before Denying Your Salary, FBI Says

How to Remove All Your Data from Glassdoor

Deleting your account is just the first step. If you want to ensure all your data is erased, you'll need to:

1. Submit a request through Glassdoor's automated privacy tool to withdraw consent for them to store and use your data.
2. You can also request a copy of all their information about you.
3. Once you've made your request, you'll receive a confirmation email. Follow the instructions, and within 30 days, your data will be removed from their system.

Did you know that with Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection, you can send data removal requests with just one click? This digital identity monitoring service shows you all the online accounts you've created since you started using the internet. For each account, you can see what data they have on you and have the option to ask them to show and remove it for you by sending a pre-written email. It has never been easier to exercise your data protection rights.

If you're a small business owner, take a look at Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Protection. It includes Digital Identity Protection along with other tools to keep your company's data safe.