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a_lipsey
Community Member

New conundrum with new communication TOS

I would like some guidance.   Before June 26, I communicated with a prospective client on a project that did not end up going forward.  Because I was within the TOS at that time,  I gave them my direct contact to follow-up when they were ready to move forward. Well,   3 months later they have reached out and are ready to revisit the project (see it does happen - 3 month wait time).   

 

Because I met this prospective client pre-new TOS, am I allowed to conduct a regular phone call with them or does it have to be through Upwork? Of course contracting/payments will occur through Upwork, but since I met them pre-new TOS and gave the contact info before June 26, are they grandfathered in?   And I'm not suggesting giving out my information newly, they already have it from before, and suggested they would call me directly. But I want to check that it won't get us in trouble first.  

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Amanda,

 

The recent changes to our Terms of Service require all pre-contract communications take place on Upwork. Even if you'd shared contact information prior to this change, you'll need to communicate with the client on Upwork until a contract is established. 

~ Valeria
Upwork

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4 REPLIES 4
kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Amanda,

 

The recent changes to our Terms of Service require all pre-contract communications take place on Upwork. Even if you'd shared contact information prior to this change, you'll need to communicate with the client on Upwork until a contract is established. 

~ Valeria
Upwork


Valeria K wrote:

Hi Amanda,

 

The recent changes to our Terms of Service require all pre-contract communications take place on Upwork. Even if you'd shared contact information prior to this change, you'll need to communicate with the client on Upwork until a contract is established. 


Thank you for the response! 

I'm bumping this thread, because contact sharing still seems to be extremely ambiguous. We are not allowed to communicated outside of Upwork until a contract is in place - understood. 

 

However, it seems that contact information on websites in an Upwork portfolio is OK?  Can a moderator please comment on this statement: 

 

Freelancers might include contact information directly in their portfolios. It's still okay to share, just remember to keep all pre-contract communications on Upwork.

 

Which can be found here: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049608113-Sharing-Information-on-Upwork

 

So if you can "share" this information, what is to stop a client from contacting a freelancer directly from their portfolio? (The use of "might" is not clear.)

 

 

Hi Nichola,

 

Portfolios are an important part of a freelancer’s bidding process to show off their past work and their potential to complete a future project. That is why we are not prohibiting the sharing of external links to personal portfolios or other websites that provide examples of past work even if those sites contain contact information. Such links and websites can be included in the profile and/or in the proposal for the purpose of showcasing past work and not for the purpose of communicating. Users are still required to keep pre-contract communication on Upwork and we recommend you let your potential Upwork clients know you can only be contacted through Upwork.

~ Valeria
Upwork
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