Addressing Policy Violations When Clients Share Contact Information

[fidrees1]

Hey Upwork Community,

I'm seeking clarity on a recurring issue I've faced. I've received two policy violation warnings even though clients shared their contact numbers without any initiation from my side. Here are my concerns:

1. Client-Initiated Sharing: I understand Upwork's policy against sharing contact information outside the platform. However, when clients send their numbers along with an offer, why are freelancers penalized?

2. Unfair Warnings: I believe it's unfair to warn freelancers for actions they did not initiate. Upwork should reassess how it handles such situations to ensure freelancers are not wrongfully penalized.

I hope Upwork can address these concerns to create a fairer system. Has anyone else experienced similar issues? How did you resolve them?

Looking forward to your thoughts and advice!

Thanks!

[celgins]

From what I've seen, freelancers are not being penalized. Upwork's auto-detection script is simply detecting policy violations in freelancer/client diaglogue, and the script doesn't determine who committed the violation. It would be nice if the warnings were sent only to the violator (the client in your case) but it looks like Upwork's detection script sees a violation and sends both parties the same warning message.

My hope is, if a freelancer's account is suspended after a client violates Upwork's contact information sharing policy, the Upwork Trust & Safety team will view the dialogue between freelancer and client; determine the client was at fault; and reinstate the freelancer's account.