Sharing your contact information or asking others to share contact information before a contract starts is against our Terms of Service, and may result in temporary restrictions, loss of talent badges, or permanent loss of account access. By staying on the platform, you are safeguarded from potential scams and benefit from our payment protection and dispute resolution services.
Contact information includes phone numbers, user ID for communication tools (like Skype, Slack, or WeChat), email address, home or work address, and less direct sources, like:
- Sharing or filling in a form asking for contact information
- Linking to an applicant management system or another way of submitting a proposal or application outside of Upwork
- Sharing or asking for any social media handles
When we say "before a contract starts," we mean before the start date on the contract or the date you accept the contract. For instance, you shouldn't share contact information in your job post, proposal, or during an interview.
You also shouldn’t share contact information or ask others in your Upwork network to share theirs unless you are working on a contract together or already have a pre-existing relationship off Upwork.
Exceptions
There are three exceptions to this rule:
- If you, or your client, is on an Enterprise plan, you're free to ask for and share contact information before a contract starts.
- If you need contact information for specific legal reasons. For instance:
- A non-disclosure agreement
- A business license
- Identifying information to confirm the right to do business with local authorities
- Background checks
- If you need to share an email address to get access to systems so you can scope a project. Examples would be:
- Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab or other code repositories
- Google/Facebook or other ad analytics programs
- Quickbooks or other bookkeeping/accounting programs
- Cloud drive folders
- Online e-signature programs
- Website host or builders
It's important to remember that even if it's OK to ask for contact information, you'll still need to keep all your communication on Upwork until the contract starts. If someone asks for your contact information for one of the reasons above, but then uses it to communicate with you about the job or payment, they are breaking our rules.
We are always working to ensure that our products and services are accessible to all users, including individuals with disabilities. If you need an exception to share contact information due to accessibility issues, please contact our accessibility coordinator by sending an email to accessibilitycoordinator@upwork.com. For more information, please read Upwork’s Digital Accessibility Statement.
Sharing your contact information once a contract is in place
To share contact information with your freelancer/client after a contract is in place, you can use your Contract Workroom [Freelancers / Clients]. The contract workroom is a page with everything you need to collaborate on contracts, all in one place. It has details about your contract and action buttons for working on the contract. Each contract has its own workroom, even if you have multiple contracts with one person.
What happens if you violate our contact sharing policies?
To your contact information or asking others to share contact information before a contract starts may result in loss of talent badges, temporary restrictions, or in some cases, permanent loss of account access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just be careful who you're sharing them with to avoid spam or any harassment.
Yes. Just be sure to ask the client to only contact you through Upwork until the contract starts.
Yes. Just remind the freelancer to only contact you through Upwork until the contract starts.
Sharing contact information like email addresses, phone numbers, social media profiles, etc.is against our Terms of Service and can result in permanent loss of account access. All contact must be done through Upwork until a contract begins. Once you edit the job post to meet our Terms of Service, we can post your job.
Job posts which include contact information (including email addresses, phone numbers, social media, etc.) violate our Terms of Service and can result in permanent loss of your account. All contact must be done through Upwork until a contract begins. Once you edit the job post to meet our Terms of Service, we can post your job.
We understand that you may need to exchange information to get work done. By staying on the platform, users are safeguarded from potential scams and benefit from our payment protection and dispute resolution services. You can always exchange contact information after a contract starts. But you can’t share contact information in your job post, proposal, messages, or during an interview before a contract starts. Instead, you can use the tools Upwork provides, like Upwork Messages, to connect and interview. Learn more about keeping your information safe.
