Upwork and GDPR Compliance

[Claudia Z]

What about "data portability"?

If technically feasible, will we be able to transfer from a freelancing website to another the work history & feedback? Any plans in this regard?

[Rene K]

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@Claudia Z wrote:

What about "data portability"?

If technically feasible, will we be able to transfer from a freelancing website to another the work history & feedback? Any plans in this regard?

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GDPR has provisions that allow you to download your personal data from a website, it doesn't force a website to transfer everything to another website. You can download your work history from Upwork and give it to another platform, swearing that it's authentic and demanding that they include it in your profile. But don't be surprised if they refuse.

[Claudia Z]

I see it's possible to request Transfer/Port via the form ... I was wondering if Upwork has plans about "accepting" transfers.

Did any other freelance website show interest to collaborate and make transfers technically feasible?

[Eve L]

So if I want to have all of my data deleted you will not keep any information about me at all? Does that mean that if my JSS goes to h*ll I can just delete my account and open a new one? How will you deal with issues like this? Or if I get suspended. Can I still have all of the personal information deleted?

Not planning on it of course, just curious...

[Avery O]

Hi Eve, 

Regardless of where you live, you may delete your account or request the deletion of all personal information we have about you at any time. However, we will only be following the requirements outlined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for those living in EEA. If you live elsewhere, we will be happy to delete your data to the extent we can reasonably do so, but please know that some information will remain on Upwork, such as information you posted publicly (for example, in our Community or in Messages sent to others). For more details on our Privacy Policy, click here.

As stated in the Upwork User Agreement, users will not be allowed to have more than one account on Upwork. 

[Jennifer R]

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@Avery O wrote:

Hi Eve, 

Regardless of where you live, you may delete your account or request the deletion of all personal information we have about you at any time. However, we will only be following the requirements outlined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for those living in the EU. If you live elsewhere, we will be happy to delete your data to the extent we can reasonably do so, but please know that some information will remain on Upwork, such as information you posted publicly (for example, in our Community or in Messages sent to others). For more details on our Privacy Policy, click here.

As stated in the Upwork User Agreement, users will not be allowed to have more than one account on Upwork. 

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 Again, it is the EEA, not the EU, not Europe. Please be precise.

[Rene K]

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@Jennifer R wrote:

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 Again, it is the EEA, not the EU, not Europe. Please be precise.

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While you are technically 100% right when you point out that the three entities, EU (European Union), Europe (the geographical continent) and EEA (European Economic Area) don't refer to the same territory, it is understandable that the distinction may be hard to grasp for people who don't live in Europe, and heck, even for those who live here.

The GDPR being a law passed by the political body named European Union, we can pardon people for mentioning the EU even if non-EU countries that are part of the EEA have decided to implement this law as well.

[Jennifer R]

In a general disussion I would not insist that much but if Avery or any other UW representative says:

However, we will only be following the requirements outlined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for those living in the EU. If you live elsewhere,

It is either wrong information or not complient with the GDPR. Depending on the context the use of the correct term is important.

[Eve L]

EU, EEA - I don't care about that.

What I do care about is that Avery didn't answer my question at all. 

But I assume some information will be stored even if you want to delete the account. As there are also transactions of money involved I guess they will have to keep some information for AML reasons for at least 5 years, as I assume AML overrules the GDPR.

Anyway, I was just curios, as this might be a perfect opportunity for a lot of scammers to come back to the site. Just delete the old account, and start fresh. But as it is that is probably only possible if you never made any money on Upwork. Or?

[Avery O]

Hi Eve, Our ability to delete data is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. For example, we are required by law to keep all escrow-related documentation (including copies of the contract, escrow instructions, and payment information) for five years from the date of close of escrow. If a dispute is filed, we are required to keep documentation of the dispute until all appeal periods have passed. As per our Privacy Policy, Section 3. Data Retention states that "...Unless you request that we delete certain information (see Your Choices and Rights below), we retain the information we collect for at least 5 years. Your information may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for additional time." If you require more information about suspended users, who requested to delete their profiles under GDPR, and comes back creating a new account, I will go ahead and check this with the team and come back to you with more information. Feel free to ask further questions about the topic if you have any, and our team will try our best to answer your questions to the best of our ability.