'Our research suggests that there are real risks associated with these sites': Experts say some job-search platforms are stealing personal data from job seekers

A long corridor with a sleek black floor, glowing green lights in the ceiling and rows of LEDS on either wall.

• Incogni report finds leading job sites sell sensitive user data, often without awareness
• ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and Monster ranked highest for collection/sharing practices
• Millions of US job seekers at risk, with only 7% expressing concern over privacy exposure

Almost all of the leading job search sites are selling their users’ sensitive data to third parties - and most of them aren’t even aware of it.

A new report from Incogni surveyed 1,000 US workers using nine “leading job search, recruitment and professional networking platforms,” and reviewed their privacy policies and legal disclosures.

It found ZipRecruiter ranked highest for collecting and sharing personal information. Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, and Monster, ranked second and third. Incogni also stressed that Microsoft faced regulatory fines and lawsuits over privacy-related issues in the past.

Users in the dark

At the same time, users either don’t know, or don’t seem to be too phased about it. More than a third (37%) of the survey’s respondents believe the platforms only share user data with potential employees.

Almost 50% said they just skim through the privacy policies when uploading resumes, and 40% said they never delete the profiles they create on job search platforms. A quarter don’t remember all the platforms that have their data, and a third (34%) uploaded their details to more than two platforms.

This is a problem that affects millions of people in the United States alone, Incogni hinted. The company says that 7.4 million Americans are currently unemployed and four in five (79.5%) of job seekers are relying on job search sites as an “essential resource”.

“It’s hard to focus on data privacy when you are worried about putting food on the table, but our research suggests that there are real risks associated with these sites,” said Darius Belejevas, head of Incogni.

“Only 7% of our survey respondents expressed concern about sharing their personal information with job search platforms; that is a shocking indictment of the lack of education about privacy risk in the U.S.”