LinkedIn may have trained AI models on user data without updating its terms.
LinkedIn users in the US (but not in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, likely due to data privacy rules in those regions) have an opt-out option to fall over in their settings screen, revealing that LinkedIn is harvesting personal data to train “content creation AI models.” This option is not new. But, as the first reported By 404 Media, LinkedIn did not initially update its privacy policy to reflect data usage.
Terms of Service are now in effect updatedbut this usually happens well before a major change like using user data for new purposes like this. The idea is to give users the option to change their account or leave the platform if they don’t like the changes. Not this time, it seems.
So what are LinkedIn training models? The company itself said in a Q&A, including models for writing suggestions and post recommendations. But LinkedIn also says the generative AI models on its platform may be trained by “another vendor,” such as its parent company Microsoft.
“As with most LinkedIn features, when you interact with our platform, we collect and use (or process) data about your use of the platform, including personal data,” the Q&A reads. “This may include your use of generative AI (AI models used to create content) or other AI features, your posts and articles, how often you use LinkedIn, your language preference, and any feedback you may have provided to our teams. We use this data, in accordance with our privacy policy, to improve or develop LinkedIn services.”
LinkedIn previously told TechCrunch that it uses “privacy-enhancing techniques, including redaction and suppression, to limit the personal information contained in datasets used for training generative AI.”
To opt out of LinkedIn data scraping, go to the “Data Privacy” section of the LinkedIn settings menu on desktop, click “Data for improving generative AI,” and then turn off the “Use my data to train content creation AI models” option. You can also try opting out more completely via this formbut LinkedIn notes that any unsubscription will not affect training already completed.
The non-profit Open Rights Group (ORG) has asked the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent regulator of data protection rights, to investigate LinkedIn and other social networks that are training on user data by default. Earlier this week, Meta announcement that it was resuming its plans to harvest user data for AI training after working with the ICO to simplify the opt-out process.
“LinkedIn is the latest social media company to process our data without asking for our consent,” Mariano delli Santi, ORG’s chief legal and policy officer, said in a statement. “The opt-out model is once again proving completely inadequate to protect our rights: the public cannot be expected to monitor and track every online company that decides to use our data to train AI. Explicit consent is not just a legal requirement, it’s a common-sense requirement.”
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), the supervisory authority responsible for monitoring compliance with the EU’s GDPR, told TechCrunch that LinkedIn informed it last week that clarifications to its global privacy policy would be published today.
“LinkedIn informed us that the policy would include an opt-out setting for its members who did not want their data used to train AI models that generate content,” a DPC spokesperson said. “This opt-out option is not available to EU/EEA members because LinkedIn does not currently use EU/EEA members’ data to train or refine these models.”
TechCrunch has reached out to LinkedIn for comment. We will update this article if we receive a response.
The demand for more data to train generative AI models has led a growing number of platforms to repurpose their vast stores of user-generated content. Some have even decided to monetize that content: Tumblr owner Automattic, Photobucket, Reddit, and Stack Overflow are among the networks licensing data to AI model developers.
Not all of them made it easy to unsubscribe. When Stack Overflow announcement that it was going to start allowing content, several users deleted their posts in protest — only to see those messages restored and their accounts suspended.
