Etsy's CEO and COO have posted an update acknowledging some of the concerns of Etsy buyers and sellers who have discovered that changes to the site have exposed much about their buying and selling history to search engines, linked to their real names. Ars Technica's Jacqui Cheng (who wrote about this yesterday) does a good job of parsing out the complaints and the response, and points out the degree to which Etsy's management has taken appropriate care with its users' data and concerns:
Etsy had flipped the switch on its new People Search tool last week as part of its effort to make the site into more of a social media platform. When users run a search for a person's full name, that user's account will show up in the search results, even if that person is only a buyer. The goal is to allow users to connect to each other and create "Circles," which then allow users to see which products their friends have marked as favorites or purchased on Etsy…
[Etsy management] went on to explain that the current feedback system dates back to a time when payment for purchased items was sent after the Etsy checkout process was complete. Like the olden days of eBay, users had to rely on public feedback in order to see whether other buyers and sellers were reliable, but this is no longer the case since Etsy now requires payment before completing checkout. As of today, buyer and seller feedback no longer link directly to purchased items and the site is considering further changes to the system to protect buyer privacy. (It's worth noting that they have not yet addressed user concerns about being automatically opted-into the People Search feature.)
"In the future, we may provide an option to share individual purchases publicly at the time of purchase. This will be completely opt-in and on a purchase-by-purchase basis," the team wrote.
Etsy reacts to user outrage, makes changes to feedback system
