A federal lawsuit filed in California accuses LinkedIn of sharing private messages from its Premium users with third parties to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The lawsuit alleges that LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social networking platform, secretly introduced a privacy setting in August 2022, automatically enrolling users in a program that allowed their data to be used for AI training without their explicit consent.
The lawsuit claims that LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, updated its privacy policy in September 2022 to inform users that their data could be disclosed for AI purposes. However, the complaint suggests this policy change was intended to conceal the platform’s earlier actions and avoid public scrutiny.
“LinkedIn’s actions… indicate a pattern of attempting to cover its tracks,” the lawsuit states. “This behaviour suggests that LinkedIn was fully aware it had violated its contractual promises and privacy standards and aimed to minimize public scrutiny.”
Filed on behalf of a LinkedIn Premium user and others affected by the alleged practices, the lawsuit seeks $1,000 per user for violations of the US federal Stored Communications Act, as well as damages for breach of contract and violations of California’s unfair competition law.
In response, a LinkedIn spokesperson denied the allegations, calling them "false claims with no merit."
The lawsuit also claims that LinkedIn altered its FAQ section to inform users about the option to opt out of data sharing for AI purposes, but added that the opt-out would not reverse any AI training already completed using their data.
LinkedIn clarified in a 2022 email to users that data sharing for AI purposes had not been enabled in the UK, European Economic Area, or Switzerland.
With more than one billion users worldwide, nearly a quarter of whom are in the United States, LinkedIn reported $1.7 billion in revenue from Premium subscriptions in 2023. As the platform continues to integrate more AI-driven features, concerns about transparency in the use of personal data have intensified, especially with the growing reliance on personal data to develop AI technologies.
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