User Account and Project Management // Leaving Projects

[Chad-Smith]

I have had an Autodesk account for what seems like forever, starting with the ADSK forums. This account had built up a history of posts, and articles on the knowledge network.

Over the years as I moved between employers, I would bring my account with me, updating my account email so that licenses could be assigned to me. The account had both a personal and work aspect, nicely separated, and it worked well.

But then Autodesk moved down the path of cloud platforms like BIM 360, and similar. At first I did not think too much of it. That is, until I recently changed employment.

After changing my account email address, I found that my account was still connected to all those ADSK cloud platforms going back many years, including the projects on those platforms.

I still have access to projects that I shouldn't have access to. Projects that could be considered confidential, and projects in accounts for companies who technically are now competitors to my current employer.

In return, those platforms are now holding onto my personal data, and to make it worse, I have absolutely no way to remove myself from those platforms and projects.

The problem here is that the Autodesk platforms are connecting to user's accounts by way of some GUID. If the users account's email changes, it still remains connected to the platform and projects. I realise that connecting by way of the email is not a perfect solution, but the fact that account recovery is via an email that I no longer have access to would help limit its longevity.

And lastly, since I still have access to platform and project data, I continue to have some level of moral responsibility to that data. Should my ADSK account be breached and project data compromised, and if tracked back to me, there could be legal ramifications. Not being able to remove myself from the projects is troublesome.

The above became obvious as I recently changed employers. What was many years of not being an issue, now is.

As a result I now have my older personal account (which I still need removed from projects), and a newer work account moving forward.

I'm hoping the Autodesk platforms could be greatly improved in regards to user account connectivity to better protect project and user data.

[Chad-Smith]

I would like to put forward some thoughts on how this could be addressed, and in a way that I feel would best fit into an Autodesk approach.

There are two sides to this matter, the user's Account, and a company's Hub/Project. My primary request at this stage is regarding the Account and its contents of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). User control of PII is a critical aspect of any web platform, and is particularly important to me.

1. The user Profile - Provide Privacy settings

Most people should by now be familiar with how many web platforms have a privacy section in the user's profile to help them control which 3rd parties their information is shared with, or has previously been connected to.

An Autodesk profile is not that much different. With Autodesk hosting the platforms and projects on behalf of the 3rd party, an Autodesk account is typically invited to a project. But there is currently no way for a user to know with certainty which 3rd parties their profile and PII is shared with.

Therefore, like other web platforms I would like to see Autodesk adopt a similar approach by putting a Privacy tab in the user's profile. This tab would contain a list of Products and Projects that user is currently involved in, or has previously been involved in.

For each product/project there would be controls to either remove yourself, or place a request with the product's/project's admin to request removal. With the latter option there would be a 7-day period for the admin to approve or reject, and should the request go unanswered then it would automatically proceed with the removal.

In the below profile screenshot it clearly states that PII will appear in project directories. In many cases this is a good thing for active projects. But once you are finished with a project/account, then the user should retain the right to withdraw that via the proposed Privacy settings.

2. An actionable option in each product/project email that is sent to the user

A large part of my issue at the moment is the constant platform emails that I receive for project's which I no longer participate in. But this could be for any Autodesk platform.

Providing a message and a link at the bottom of these emails would firstly inform the recipient of the option, and secondly provide them with a link for faster and easier action. The link ties the email back to their Autodesk Profile's Privacy settings.

3. Hub/Project admin notifications

Obviously with user controls to request removal, hub and project admins need to be notified. There would be two types of notifications that admins would potentially receive.

• A user's request for removal, which they would be required to action within a short time period such as 7 days.
• And should a user change their account email, such as to a personal or another company, the admin/s would be notified so they can make a decision to remove the user. Or inversely, the user's account in a company hub would be automatically made inactive, and it is then on the hub's admin to verify and approve its reactivation. This is a win-win for the user's privacy and the company's security.

[ilai_rotbaein]

Hi Chad,

Thanks for reaching out. Our support team will reach out to you shortly to help you resolve this.

Regards,

Ilai

[Chad-Smith]

Thank you Ilai for your reply. It's much appreciated.

Please also see the following related thread regarding others who would like to be able to leave projects.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-support/how-can-i-leave-a-bim360-project/m-p/11514231

[Chad-Smith]

I have spoken with a few Autodesk members about this in the past over many months, but none have been from the correct development team.

With this being primarily a user Account matter, I would love to spend some time with a member, or a few members from the Accounts/Profile development team. I also have a couple of extra related points I want to cover which I've chosen not to put in this thread.

[vaughan.giles7AGEV]

Well it wouldn't be in their best financial interest to give us the ability to actively monitor and remove inactive users - so I highly doubt this will ever be resolved.