Every request is human-reviewed
Before research or outreach begins, a person checks the request, its purpose, and whether it appears to come from a real candidate evaluating an opportunity.
Trust & privacy
Privacy is part of the product.
ReverseRef handles sensitive career decisions and candid workplace experiences. We collect as little as possible, limit who can see it, and explain where privacy protections have practical limits.
Every source is human-verified
A shared employer is not enough. A person reviews dates, roles, team context, and the claimed reporting relationship. Unclear relationships are excluded or labeled.
Every interview is human-to-human
Reference participants speak live with a person in an audio-only conversation. Cameras stay off. ReverseRef does not record or automatically transcribe the call, and no AI assistant joins it.
Reports are private and de-identified
Reports go only to the requesting candidate. They use source labels, omit names and direct contact details, and avoid unnecessary identifying detail. ReverseRef does not build persistent manager profiles or publish public reviews.
Candidate-only by design
Built for the person deciding whether to take the job.
ReverseRef is decision support for candidates. It is not an employer screening, employee-monitoring, reputation-management, or source-identification service. Employers, managers, recruiters acting for them, and anyone trying to discover who gave feedback may not use the service.
A real candidate and a real open role are required
Every requester must provide a LinkedIn profile and a public job posting or ATS link. We review the opportunity, interview stage, and connection between the role and manager, then follow up with questions. We may require further evidence of an active late-stage process. ReverseRef currently accepts technology positions in the United States and Canada. United Kingdom requests are on hold during a privacy-law review. ReverseRef is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn.
Participant employment verification
Public profiles are useful, but not always enough.
When dates, roles, or a reporting relationship cannot be confirmed with sufficient confidence, we may ask a participant for redacted proof of employment. This could be an employment verification letter, pay statement, tax form, or similar record.
Show only what is needed
We ask participants to hide compensation, tax and national identification numbers, home address, birth date, bank details, and other unrelated information. The document is used only to validate relevant employment details and is deleted after verification unless it must be retained for a legal, security, or dispute reason.
Trust begins with the reporting map
We verify who actually reported to whom.
Company overlap alone says very little. ReverseRef reconstructs the relevant team structure using dates, titles, role history, team context, and human corroboration. We also check that the manager is tied to the specific role the candidate is considering.
Map the team
Reconstruct the manager’s historical reporting lines and organizational context.
Verify proximity
Confirm each participant had a direct and relevant working relationship.
Exclude ambiguity
Leave out uncertain relationships or label their limits clearly.
A private, human interview
Audio only, with no recording or automated transcript.
The requesting candidate does not attend participant interviews. Each participant speaks one-to-one with a ReverseRef interviewer. Cameras stay off, no meeting bot or AI assistant joins, and ReverseRef does not make an audio or video recording or create an automated transcript. Everyone on the call is asked not to record it.
The interviewer takes structured notes under a source ID rather than the participant’s name. Those notes are used to prepare a de-identified synthesis that the participant can correct, narrow, or remove before it may appear in the candidate report.
Identity is verified without using video
We compare professional history, dates, roles, team context, and the reporting relationship, then connect the invitation to an established professional profile or contact channel. We confirm limited employment details at the start of the call and may request redacted proof of employment when the evidence is unclear. Conflicting or unresolved sources are excluded.
Participant control
You see what leaves the conversation.
A participant can ask to see the current synthesis drawn from their interview at any time. Before a candidate report is delivered, each participant reviews that de-identified synthesis and may correct it, narrow it, or remove their contribution. ReverseRef must know who a participant is to verify the relationship, but the candidate receives the synthesis, not the participant’s identity or direct contact details.
Control has practical limits after delivery. We cannot recall a report copy that has already been delivered, which is why review happens first. A participant may still ask us to delete retained interview material, subject to legal and operational requirements.
No manager dossier
Each request is its own case.
ReverseRef does not merge interviews into a persistent manager profile. Interview content from one case is not carried into another case. If we invite a participant to help with a later request, we ask again and need fresh, case-specific consent before using anything they share.
Limited administrative records may remain for consent, contact preferences, payments, disputes, security, or legal obligations. Those records are not used to build a manager review database.
Small-team protection
A source count is only the starting point.
No candidate-facing finding relies on fewer than two independently verified participants. Distinctive single-source events, quotations, and source-specific timelines are removed or generalized, and the report does not say how many eligible people declined or failed to respond.
Two participants may still be too few when a team is small or the context is distinctive. ReverseRef may require more participants or decline the case when a manager could reasonably infer who spoke. If we cannot prepare a useful report without an unreasonable identification risk, no report is delivered and the candidate pays nothing.
Information boundaries
Workplace experience, not company secrets.
Interviews focus on a participant’s firsthand experience: management style, expectations, feedback, decision-making, development, and behavior under pressure. ReverseRef does not ask for trade secrets, customer data, unreleased financial information, security credentials, personal data about coworkers, or other confidential or proprietary information.
Participants are reminded not to share information they are not permitted to disclose and remain responsible for their own confidentiality, nondisclosure, non-disparagement, and other obligations. ReverseRef cannot determine whether a particular statement is permitted under an individual agreement and does not promise that participation is risk-free.
What we protect
Both sides of a private conversation.
For candidates
- No contact with the prospective manager or hiring company
- Candidate names and direct contact details are never given to participants
- Case details are not placed in public pages or URLs
- Only information needed to complete the request is collected
For participants
- Names and direct contact details stay out of candidate reports
- Participants review their de-identified synthesis before delivery
- Participation is voluntary and contributions may be removed before delivery
- No public review, searchable profile, or employer-facing database
De-identification reduces exposure, but no process can eliminate inference. A small team or distinctive event could allow someone to infer a participant. Limited opportunity context could also allow a participant to infer which candidate requested the review. ReverseRef withholds names and contact details, limits unnecessary context, and discusses material risks before delivery.
Independence and accountability
Candidate interests shape the service.
ReverseRef is currently self-funded and founder-operated. The business model is candidate-paid, and ReverseRef does not accept payment from employers or managers connected to a case.
ReverseRef is not building an employer screening product, manager reputation service, advertising business, or data marketplace. Participant information is not sold, and interview content is not turned into a persistent manager dossier.
Changes will be stated plainly
Material changes to ownership, funding, the candidate-only business model, service providers, or privacy practices will be disclosed through updated public policies and effective dates.
Current audit status
ReverseRef has not yet completed an independent security or privacy audit and is not presented as audited or certified. We are documenting privacy, security, verification, and deletion practices now so future reviews can test specific controls.
When independent assessments begin, we intend to publish who performed them, when they occurred, what they covered, the high-level findings, and the status of material remediation. Detailed information that would create a security risk or violate confidentiality may remain restricted.
Transparency
Warrant canary
Last affirmed September 17, 2026. Next scheduled review by March 17, 2027.
As of the affirmation date, ReverseRef:
- Has received no subpoena, warrant, court order, National Security Letter, FISA order, or other compulsory government demand for candidate, participant, or case information.
- Has received no such demand accompanied by a nondisclosure or gag requirement.
- Has not disclosed candidate, participant, or case information to a government or law-enforcement authority.
- Has not been required to provide bulk or ongoing access, install surveillance capability, create a backdoor, or weaken its privacy or security safeguards.
How to read this statement
If a statement can no longer truthfully be made, we intend to remove or revise it when legally permitted. A missing, changed, or overdue update may have explanations other than a government demand. This canary is a transparency signal, not a legal guarantee.
Questions are welcome.
Ask how your information will be handled before you submit a request or join an interview. You can also read the formal Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
hello@reverseref.com