I'll start by saying that I'm very cautious about putting any information about myself online. I don't use social media, I've never publicly posted my name and I'm nowhere to be found on search engines.
Back in October, I applied for and succeeded in obtaining a placement with a local company. Since then the company has grown their social media presence.
Blog posts are created for each new member (about 5 new starts since October) in the style of an interview transcript. My biggest concern is that some of the questions are of a personal nature; the employee's full name and photo are also included which I'm very worried about. The blog post is then linked to on the company's Twitter and Facebook profile.
The company also created a new employees page on their website since I was offered the job. All employees are listed on this page with their picture and first name.
I've been able to deal with similar issues in the past, however considering how deeply the company has pushed the online presence of employees, I feel that I would cause a major upset by bringing this up.
I've also looked over my employment contract and it doesn't mention that I have to allow my name/face/personal profile to be publicly posted online. I'm in the UK, any advise about legal rights/best way to approach this would be greatly appreciated.
Say this nonsense to you human resources department so they can kick you out and find someone not mentally ill
>>17233692
How does wanting to protect my privacy make me "mentally ill", I've dealt with some nasty characters in the past and I wouldn't put it past them to cause trouble again if they find out where I now live/work. With how polarised the political climate is ATM, if I utter some wrongthink to a mate outside of work and some SJW overhears it, there could well be a mini harassment campaign against me/my place of work. Also, in general I'm just not comfortable with any old Tom, Dick or Harry looking up the information I'd be asked to divulge.
Also, the job I'll be performing doesn't require me to have an online presence.
>>17233689
I should also mention that this is a placement job for my uni course. I haven't actually started yet.
>>17233740
I don't think anyone will still hunt you down unless : you've killed someone, you owe them a lot of money. Either way you gotta pay
>>17233740
Then let HR know? Or find a placement at a different company. The onus is on you for applying at a place that boasts an online presence.
>>17233766
>Then let HR know?
It's a small company, so no HR department. It'll probably be my line manager or whoever is in charge of social media I'll have to talk to.
>Or find a placement at a different company.
Bit late for that, unless I want to drop the entire course.
>The onus is on you for applying at a place that boasts an online presence.
But their employees' online presence only took off after I accepted the job/signed the contract.
Is there any UK/EU laws pertaining to situations like this? I know there's a few privacy ones. I could maybe quote them if they're insistent. If worse comes to worst, I'm thinking of using the right to be forgotten to remove my name from search engines. I don't mind if the info's online if people can't find it by just searching my name.
>>17233689
I'm in the US and unfortunately I don't have an answer for you, but you're not alone. My last employer did this too and it made me uncomfortable as fuck. I know they do it for a lot of reasons, basically so people can "get to know" each other. God forfend people should actually talk to each other and get to know each other. That would be goldbricking on company time.
It can actually be handy if, for example, you're looking at some paperwork and you see something was signed off by Joe Blow and you need to ask him about it. You can find him by looking at the company site at your workstation (we had kiosks throughout the plant too) and find out his department and what he looks like without having to ask people. But that was less useful to me because I am abysmal at recognising people's faces, especially from photographs.
Basically what I did is ducked, dodged, avoided, or refused every part of that faggotry that I possibly could. I let them know that I was uncomfortable with it and found out what the absolute bare minimum was that was required of me.
But yeah it is a trend I don't like, and maybe this isn't what they're aiming for, but sometimes it feels like they're trying to remove the last few excuses for employees to not have their head down, working full pace, every second of the workday. People like to know who they're working with? Don't let them talk, it's inefficient and could lead to gossip, low morale and unrest. Just post everybody's info so we all know who we're working with.
I have no opposition to hard work. I used to work 10-hour factory shifts with no breaks except to piss. I just don't feel that work should feel like a 19th-century penitentiary with no talking, no fun except what's prescribed by the owners, and a big panopticon in the middle.
TLDR you're not alone OP
>>17233909
Thanks for your post mate. Good to know there's at least one other person on this board who shares my sentiment.
>I know they do it for a lot of reasons, basically so people can "get to know" each other.
>It can actually be handy if, for example, you're looking at some paperwork and you see something was signed off by Joe Blow and you need to ask him about it.
I understand there's plenty of valid reasons for creating an online profile to benefit people within the company. The company I worked for during my previous bout of work experience got it right IMO. A small image, name, email and ext number, only accessibly via logging onto the intranet. I actually found it a necessity as I'd frequently have to locate people to clarify code changes and setup QA environments.
The information being put up in my case is of a far too personal nature, the types of questions they're asking include: "what would you do if", "who's your favourite so and so", "what ability you wish you had", "tell us about you and your family". That all goes with my full name and picture posted on their website and shared on Twitted and Facebook. The only reason I can think of why they'd do that is to "give the company a relatable/personal appearance" but even that doesn't make sense as the company doesn't deal with the public.
The most I'd be willing to concede is to allow my image to be posted on their employees page with my first name. I feel I'm perfectly justified in denying all the other guff.
>>17233689
That's pretty lame, my company has an internal directory with everyone's photos and stuff, but nothing publicly accessible. I don't think it would be that big a deal if they just had on their website the photo and name of their employees, but posting that shit to social media and also putting up a bunch of interview type info is kind of fucked. Unless you're working as a blogger or some sort of internet "personality" type position it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Who the fuck wants to read some in depth bio of the accountant for a business?
