Last names showing up here

[pgiambalvo]

Hey, I've noticed last names of posters and responders showing up here instead of just an initial. They flash for just a second before being replaced. Not a big deal to me, but it might be to some people.

[gilbert-phyllis · Accepted solution]

OK, you know you're spending way, way too much time haunting the forum when you finally notice that. (It's been that way forever. Doesn't matter whether it's a big deal to anybody. It's the way it is.)

[pgiambalvo]

Huh, I never noticed before. And can anyone really spend too much time haunting the forum? Although speaking for myself, instead of the word "haunting," I'd use "skulking around, disgruntled and whining endlessy about the same stuff over and over again."

[researchediting]

Been there, done that. 😉

[tagrendy]

I see their usernames flash actually underneath the name, which is probably worse. I'd rather someone know my last name than username.

[colettelewis]

My user name has been flashing up too. This has happened before. I notice all the mods user names are flashing up too. 

[prestonhunter]

As a programmer who deals with usernames and real names and user IDs within the context of web applications... I work with these things every day... I find the way Upwork implements in the Community Forum this rather amusing.

Is if necessary? Obviously not.

We have all used MANY website that we log onto, and most of us have probably never seen another one that flashes our user names like this.

Personally, beyond being amused or bemused by it, I don't much care. But I get it that some people might not like it.

[pgiambalvo]

Upwork should fix it, ASAP. Better safe than sorry.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Peter,

What you're seeing are most likely usernames. We are aware of the situation with usernames showing in the Community. Stan and team are currently working on a permanent solution for this as he mentioned here. In general though, per our Privacy Policy usernames are considered non-identifying information.

[martina_plaschka]

That is completely beside the point. The definition of what is identifying or not identifying is a moot point when the user ID is made public, when there was a reasonable expectation that it would NEVER be publicly shared. How did I arrive at this expectation? Because at sign-up, you can either do it with email or user ID, so both options appear as equal. If I had ever known that it would not be kept confidential, I would have chosen a different one. 

And no, I'm not talking about it blinking for a second. I'm talking about it being there in certain situations for as long as the viewer wants. I have reported this months ago, and it was never fixed. 

You need to do a better job of making people aware where this data is going to pop up. 

[pgiambalvo]

Hi Valeria, sorry to disagree, but I do consider usernames as indentifying information. And I read Stan's post from October. As it's now February, i hope the fix takes place soon.

[StanG]

We're starting to test the long-term fix, and hope to have it live in the coming weeks!

[marc_compte]

I'm not sure if I read this right. The privacy policy says this:

Non-Identifying Information/Usernames: We also may collect other information, such as zip codes, demographic data, information about your use of the Service, and general project-related data (“Non-Identifying Information”). We may combine information collected from Upwork users, whether they are registered or not (“Upwork Users”). In some cases, we may render Personal Information (generally, email address) into a form of Non-Identifying Information referred to in this Privacy Policy as “ Hashed Information.” This is typically accomplished using a mathematical process (commonly known as a hash function) to convert information into a code. The code does not identify you directly, but it may be used to connect your activity and interests.

---

The word usernames appears on the header with a slash /.  I read that as "the following applies to both the non-identifying information and usernames" which would implicitly mean that usernames are indeed considered identifying information.

If usernames were an example of NII I would have expected to see something like "Non-identifying information (Usernames,...)" or "NII: Usernames,...".

I'm not sure if that is just me or it is the English standard, I'm not a language expert. If I read it right, then all you are saying here is that the usernames may be stored (fine), combined (fine) and hashed (fine).

Having the usernames published in the source code of the website is none of those.

[StanG]

Oh trust me, we know the method right now is absolutely ridiculous. No sugar coating that. It was setup wrong from the start, which unfortunately is why it's taking us longer than expected to get it flipped over as like anything ancient, you uncover all kinds of other problems along the way.
We should have it fixed in the next month once and for all so that we mirror how the Upwork Platform is displaying usernames.

[martina_plaschka]

There are a number of recent posts of upwork accounts being hacked and money stolen. I have a pretty good idea why it is really easy for people to do that. Displaying a user ID is just an invitation for scammers. 

When creating an upwork profile, there is no warning that the user ID will be displayed for all the world to see. No thanks to upwork for this. Endangering freelancer profiles is entirely on you. 

[jr-translation]

There have been complains about our username being visible for a short time.

When visiting the forum without being logged in, you can see the usernames of the people on the leaderboard permanently.  Why are we told "Consider your Upwork username and password as private as your bank account information. " when then usernames can be found all over the place?

Since some people choose their real name, we are talking about GDPR violation which probably does not bother you since you are a US company. But you are promising the clients (which we as freelancers are obvously not):

[mwiggenhorn]

If only I could give you more upvotes!  This is totally unacceptable.

[jr-translation]

Don't you dare. I do not want to see my username there.

[m_terrazas]

---

Jennifer R wrote:

Don't you dare. I do not want to see my username there.

---

LOL! you have one from me 🙂

[moonraker]

I've bought it up before and you'd have thought they'd make a priority of fixing it with the new changes to the forum.

Fortunately for me my username doesn't give anything away. But other people have their surnames and other information showing.

[colettelewis]

All the moderators' names come up too. Perhaps this will galvanize them into doing something.  That said, of course, more galvanization on the forums can only lead to further disruption and dismay. 

But back to user names. Since they are no longer private, when Upwork has fixed this glitch, I would like to change mine. 

[martina_plaschka]

Don't take this as shouting. At all.

I NEED TO CHANGE MY USERNAME BECAUSE WHEN I CREATED IT I HAD A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY WHICH WAS VIOLATED BY UPWORK. 

For heavens sake, let me change it now! I would have never chosen this one if I had known that upwork will violate my reasonable expectation of privacy! I didn't know you would be happy to splash it all over the forum for everybody to see! Plus everybody who sends me a PM can gawk at it for as long as he/she wants. 

[martina_plaschka]

It is for me. I personally find it nauseating. 

[pudingstudio]

Usernames (Used ID's) showing is never going to be fixed?

[roberty1y]

About six months ago, we were promised it would be fixed within a month. Usernames are still there for all to see (and no, you don't have to message someone to see it). Sometimes it's the freelancer's real name. Isn't this a violation of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation?

[2e395a62]

They said: "within coming weeks". So the weeks come and go, and there are always some more of them to come 😉 I just wonder how UW will suspend itself for violating the ToS 😄

[tomzilla1]

It's happening again intermittently. The code for querying the "First Name L" from username should be preloaded before the page loads. I think right now it's either async or executed as the page is loading, so that's why there's a "flash".

Update: I looked at the source code, your username is actually in the source code if it flashes or not... see screenshots:

[moonraker]

Now all I have to do is hover over somebody's profile picture to see their user name. This is the opposite of fixing it.

 

[pudingstudio]

Wow, didn't even notice that!

It's now becoming a feature, not a bug.. 😞

[sullivanliz]

I know it's not actually funny but... that's kind of hilarious. How many months for this 'fix'?!

[martina_plaschka]

Any update on this?

[prestonhunter]

This ship sailed so long ago, I'm sure a lot of us have forgotten about it and no longer care.

I'm not saying you shouldn't care. But for me personally, I would be surprised if someone didn't know my last name. And if they want to know it, I'll just tell them.

[StanG]

Not an update anyone will probably enjoy, but it's stll TBD.  We had it slated to be resolved in 2022, but the engineering team slated to work on this got pulled to more critical work (Spam/Scams). That's similarly pushed back us trying to do more hacky fixes ourselves on our end on the Community side to try to solve for it - As others note, it doesn't make sense how we are doing it, they are 100% accurate.

We'll see if we can do some additional fixes to hide it in the addtional spots in the coming weeks such as the avatar spot, our engineer says it may be possible.

[gilbert-phyllis]

I initially didn't think this was a big deal but after having someone in the forum use my last name in replying to a comment, I understand why others have been steamed about it from the start. That person was either oblivious to the issue of protecting others' privacy or she was being malicious about it. Either way, I had to flag it to get a moderator to edit out my name. I would change my user name if I could but apparently that is not an option.

(BTW, I am NOT among those who've been squawking all year for UW to throw more resources at the scam problem. I am firmly in the camp that engineering priority should be given--always--to the core functionality of the platform and the Community platform. The only way to effectively fight the proliferation of scams is to cut off their food supply. If you're not gonna do that, then leave that whole part of the ecosystem to sort itself and stay focused on what matters to the UW members, FLs and clients, who are generating revenue.)

[martina_plaschka]

1.7 USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS

Each person who uses our Services must register for their own Account with a username and password. You are responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your username and password, and agree not to share your username or password with anyone. You are responsible for safeguarding your username and password and for any use of our Services with your username and password. 

I have not consented that upwork shares my username with everyone on the forum. How can I adhere to this stipulation when upwork is violating it for me?

[sullivanliz]

I don't particularly care either, but surely having surnames displayed here defeats the object of using only initials on the platform? A policy that I'm guessing is less about freelancer security and more about making circumvention more difficult.

[colettelewis]

Stan the community manager wrote on Feb 27, 2022

"Oh trust me, we know the method right now is absolutely ridiculous. No sugar coating that. It was setup wrong from the start, which unfortunately is why it's taking us longer than expected to get it flipped over as like anything ancient, you uncover all kinds of other problems along the way.

We should have it fixed in the next month once and for all so that we mirror how the Upwork Platform is displaying usernames."

"The mirror crack'd from side to side;

'The curse is come upon me,' cried

       The Lady of Shalott."

Tennyson knew a thing or two ... 

[luqman_mak]

Just wanted to say that everytime i am in the coffee lounge and i see the title to this thread, the 'up here' part of it triggers a soundtrack in my mind - 'Up in here - DMX'

[renata101]

Y'all gonna make me lose my mind! 🙃

[colettelewis]

Once again Upwork, user names are being displayed everywhere and for quite a long time.  Plenty of clients who will be annoyed about this. It is so incredibly irritating that in the last few years Upwork has not been able to fix this problem.