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There are websites which show reviews, ratings, scores about companies (restaurants, hotels, etc.). Is it legal to show specific employee/service provider/professional like doctor or other profession full name and reviews about him publicly - does it need permission? What about GDPR, right to be forgotten and other legal considerations?

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That's an old idea that has been tried several times before (such as the first, being Unvarnished: Website Lets You Review People (And Trash Them) | HuffPost, which no longer exists); and one of the latest incarnations is Peeple (mobile application - Wikipedia).

There are lots of legal liabilities, including defamation and harassment/stalking, even with the Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act | Electronic Frontier Foundation which (mostly) protects the website owner from others' speech posted on the site (your mileage may vary due to jurisdiction).

The only way such a site would survive is to do what Peeple and other sites have done: greatly limit the speech allowed, such as limiting to only positive reviews, giving the subject complete control over what does appear on their profile, only allowing "opt-in" profiles, verify identities, etc.

You would have to implement full GDPR compliance; but various lawsuits will either shut you down before you get far enough to launch or soon after and force you to greatly limit the scope of the site. Most lawyers would advise you to find something else to do with your time and money.

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  • Perhaps in Europe. Various reputation sites like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau have a pretty good track record of success in the U.S., and I don't think that one could circumvent Section 230 if you were a U.S. person by making claims arising under GDPR. A blog more or less totally devoted to these issues and covering case law and statutory developments is here: blog.ericgoldman.org
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 20:32
  • True, eastern Europe or Russia would host such a site and be beyond reach. Interesting blog; there's too much to read and keep up with.
    – BlueDogRanch
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 23:10
  • Where it is hosted matters less than where the operators are located and have assets, and the location of those profiled.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 23:52

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