LinkedIn is my go-to social media destination for discovering new business opportunities. Unlike other platforms, users network, engage, and communicate with their careers in mind, making it a more professional online experience. While it originally acted as a resource primarily for job seekers, members now use it to share industry news and insights, increase brand awareness, and connect with potential collaborators. For my business, Map Agency, it’s relatively easy to find and connect with customers. Since interest-based targeted advertising has become one of the platform’s offerings, however, I’ve noticed that my personal account gets tracked by other businesses more frequently. Printing, web development, and content creation vendors reach out constantly, raising questions about my personal data. Has LinkedIn become too invasive?
Data Collection Policies
To enhance their targeting and segmentation capabilities for advertising services, LinkedIn collects a variety of data from its users. This includes personal information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and employment details. According to LinkedIn’s Privacy Policy, it also gathers data on user activity. In other words, whenever a user makes a new connection, interacts with content, creates a post, or responds to a message, data is being tracked and stored. In addition, LinkedIn collects information from third-party sources, such as employers and partners. (LinkedIn, 2024)
The data collected is used for several purposes. Primarily, LinkedIn tries to personalize the user experience by suggesting connections, job opportunities, and content that aligns with users' interests and professional goals. However, LinkedIn also admits to using this data to improve and provide more relevant services, develop new features, and conduct research. Obviously, businesses on LinkedIn can leverage this data for targeted advertising. I haven’t tried it yet, but it's possible for Map Agency to reach specific audiences based on professional attributes and behaviors. Is it worth the risk of turning off potential clients? The only way to accomplish this is by relying on LinkedIn’s collected personal data.
Data Control
The good news is, users have some control over their data on LinkedIn. For instance, they can manage their privacy settings to limit the visibility of their information. They can also adjust who can see their profile and activity. Last, LinkedIn provides options for users to download their data and close their accounts if they wish to delete their information from the platform. These capabilities follow the rules outlined in both the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. I wonder, though, if providing them is most likely the result of their legal challenges.
Privacy Concerns and Controversies
Research reveals that LinkedIn is embroiled in controversy over privacy. One notable issue involves the platform's use of user data to train generative AI models without explicit consent. This practice recently raised significant concerns among privacy advocates and led to public and legal scrutiny. As a result, LinkedIn quickly made changes. Users that don’t want their data training generative AI models must navigate to the “Data privacy” tab in their account settings and turn off “Data for Generative AI Improvement.” Unfortunately, many members probably don’t understand that they need to take this action. Making matters more complicated, users must complete an additional “Data Processing Objection Form” to opt out of other machine learning applications beyond generative AI models. (Robinson, 2024) This tiered approach to data privacy settings is complicated and lacks transparency.
As recently as January of 2025, LinkedIn's data practices have led to lawsuits. One LinkedIn Premium member, for example, is suing LinkedIn for exposing conversations that should have been kept private. The lawsuit is seeking $1,000 per affected user and accuses LinkedIn of leveraging user data to train AI models. (Kolapo, 2025) Once again, LinkedIn faces criticism for automatically enrolling users into certain data collection practices without clear consent mechanisms.
Subsequently, users can now opt-out of certain data collection practices on LinkedIn. They can manage their ad settings to limit personalized advertising and already have the capability to disable the use of their data for generative AI training. These options will provide users with greater control over their data and help ensure compliance with privacy regulations. Still, the response by LinkedIn is reactionary, and these controversies highlight the ongoing challenges they face while prioritizing targeting and data collection over user privacy and ethical considerations.
Transparency and Consumer Protections
How trustworthy is LinkedIn if it continues to circumvent data protection regulations? Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), LinkedIn must obtain explicit consent from users before collecting and processing their personal data. (Barnhart, 2020) Having the right to access, rectify, and delete data doesn’t seem like enough, though. As technology evolves, users should be made more explicitly aware of how their data is being used.
Similarly, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants California residents the right to know what personal data is being collected, the right to delete their data, and the right to opt-out of the sale of their data. True, LinkedIn provides information about its data collection practices online and allows users to manage their privacy settings, but how many people actually read their privacy policies? They make it difficult for users to fully comprehend the extent to which private data informs targeted advertising.
Recommendations for Improvement
- Enhanced Consent Mechanisms: LinkedIn should implement more obvious consent mechanisms to ensure that users are fully informed about how their data will be used. This could include clearer notifications and opt-in options for data collection practices, particularly for sensitive data.
- Increased Transparency: The platform should provide more detailed and accessible information about its data collection and usage practices. This might involve regular updates to the privacy policy and more user-friendly explanations of how data is used for advertising and AI training.
- Stronger Data Protection Measures: LinkedIn should invest in advanced security measures to protect user data from unauthorized access and data breaches. This could include enhanced encryption, regular security audits, and stricter access controls for third-party partners.
As a business owner, I see the advantages of harnessing LinkedIn’s data to help drive sales. However, as a consumer, I question the integrity of LinkedIn’s motives. No doubt, LinkedIn needs to implement more transparent communication about their practices and provide users with more reminders about the control they have over their data. By implementing these improvements, LinkedIn can better balance effective marketing strategies for businesses with stronger privacy practices for consumers. The ultimate goal should be to protect users’ date while providing valuable services and personalized experiences.
References
Barnhart, B. (2024, May 2). GDPR and social media: What marketers need to know. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/gdpr-and-social-media/
Kolapo, F. (2025, January 26). LinkedIn’s Privacy Controversy: A wake-up call for AI Governance. Jacobson CPSC. https://wpsites.ucalgary.ca/jacobson-cpsc/2025/01/26/linkedins-privacy-controversy-a-wake-up-call-for-ai-governance/
LinkedIn privacy policy. LinkedIn. (n.d.). https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
Robinson, R. (2024, September 19). Controversy erupts over LinkedIn’s AI data usage policies. ComplexDiscovery. https://complexdiscovery.com/controversy-erupts-over-linkedins-ai-data-usage-policies/
Thony, S. L. (2024). The Marketing Campaign Playbook. STK MKT Entertainment.
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