Prohibition on Feedback Manipulation

The updated terms establish that when clients fund, release, or pay bonuses for multiple milestones in a single transaction session (a 'Bulk Payment Action'), each transaction is treated as a separate, independent, and irrevocable authorization to Payment Escrow. The revised language explicitly states that each transaction receives its own unique transaction identifier, is independently recorded in transaction history, is subject to its own service fees, and is independently subject to dispute assistance rights. Clients must review and confirm all individual transactions before submitting a bulk action. Additionally, the updated Fee and ACH Authorization Agreement states that unused ACH payment methods will be inactivated after 24 months of non-use, with advance notification provided.

The updated terms establish a new beta feature allowing invited users to connect third-party AI agents to their Upwork accounts. Agents can read information and draft communications (proposals, job posts, messages) without per-action confirmation, but cannot autonomously move money or finalize contracts; those actions require the user to authenticate and confirm on Upwork directly. Users are responsible for all agent actions and must ensure agent-generated content carries mandatory disclosure labels; submitting proposals through agents consumes Connects and incurs fees regardless of whether the user approves the draft-confirm action. You can revoke agent access by visiting the App Authorization page, and these beta terms apply only until you accept replacement terms.

Upwork's privacy policy previously disclosed that it complied with the U.S. Data Privacy Framework and certified adherence to its Principles regarding how it processes personal data from EU, UK, and Swiss residents. The updated policy removes nearly all of this language, including the explicit commitment to Data Privacy Framework Principles and the statement that those Principles would govern in case of conflict with other policy terms. Users in the EU, UK, and Switzerland no longer have a clear, policy-level statement of the legal framework protecting their data when transferred to the U.S., which may reduce transparency about data protection safeguards. You may contact Upwork to request copies of the data transfer mechanism documents it uses.