Consumer Alert — The World Privacy Forum and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have become aware of a nationwide job scam currently in action. We are advising job seekers to avoid any response to job ads coming from Unk Electronics, Macrocommerce Intersales, and Nanjing Panada Electronics, and to be aware of the high potential for financial fraud and or identity theft if they have already responded to job ads from these companies.

Job Searching in the Networked Environment: Consumer Benchmarks — The World Privacy Forum officially launches with this inaugural report, a study a year in its research on the job search sector. This study, The 2003 Job Search Privacy Study: Job Searching in the Networked Environment: Consumer Benchmarks , documents job applicant privacy across the job search industry from resume writers to job search sites to resume blasters and other parts of the job search infrastructure.

Job Searching in the Networked Environment: Consumer Privacy Benchmarks

Roadmap: 2003 Job Search Privacy Study – Job Searching in the Networked Environment: Consumer Privacy Benchmarks: I. Executive Summary
Job seekers, when applying for a job using electronic formats, experience less privacy and freedom than they do in non-electronic formats.

In a mere decade, job searching has evolved from primarily a paper and file-cabinet affair to an arena that is nearly completely digitized. Resumes, no matter what the originating form — fax, email, or paper — are now scanned, sorted, shuffled, stored and datamined in a bewildering assortment of ways. This changed applicant process has, overall, not had a beneficial effect on the job seeker.

This research was conducted with several purposes in mind. First, it set out to document and benchmark the privacy practices at the leading job search sites and list those practices openly so consumers could make informed decisions about each site based on fact.