Linkedin employs user data in ads without telling them

PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL NETWORK Linkedin has upset many of its 100 million users by opting them into a programme that reveals their personal details to advertisers without telling anyone about it.

Linkedin changed its privacy policy to allow it to display the names and pictures of users with ads. The system works by showing friends and colleagues who've followed a brand name, effectively making them an unwitting salesperson for that brand, since people are more likely to click such advertisements on the basis that it looks like someone they know is recommending them. In reality, the other person has no idea that their photo and name are being used to sell things.

It's a clever approach to advertising, but an absolutely abyssmal approach to privacy, as Linkedin has decided to automatically opt-in all of its users without informing them of the change.

Users can opt out if they want, but the option is buried in the Settings page, a ploy similar to that used by Facebook to hide its privacy settings. The big problem here is that if users don't know that their name and photo are being used in this way, then how can they opt out of it?

Linkedin could face legal trouble for this decision. Digital Trends reports it is likely that Linkedin broke Dutch privacy law, which requires user consent for employing user images with advertisements. It could also be brought up before the European Commission and the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

"One of the principles of the Data Protection Act is that personal information should be processed fairly," an ICO spokesperson told The INQUIRER. "Linkedin should ensure that any data it collects should be used in the manner that its users expect. If personal data is being passed on to a third party or used in a way that users might not have expected then this should be made clear to the user either when they sign up or when the changes are made."

The ICO also checked its records and told us that it has received no complaints about this issue so far. Therefore it's unlikely to start an investigation into Linkedin or impose a fine unless it starts receiving complaints from the public, which we expect will be only a matter of time, given the abuse of privacy. µ