LinkedIn sued in US over AI data sharing practices
LinkedIn is currently embroiled in a class-action lawsuit in the United States, with allegations surfacing that the popular networking platform has been sharing private messages from premium subscribers with third parties without their explicit consent. The lawsuit, brought forward by plaintiff Alessandro De La Torre in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses LinkedIn of violating its contractual agreements with premium subscribers, contravening the Stored Communications Act (SCA), and engaging in unfair business practices under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
Central to the complaint are claims that LinkedIn disclosed the contents of private InMail messages, a feature reserved for paying premium subscribers, to external entities for the purpose of training generative AI models. The lawsuit alleges that LinkedIn breached its contractual obligations by sharing these private messages without proper authorization. Additionally, the lawsuit raises concerns regarding a privacy setting introduced by LinkedIn in August 2024 that allowed users to opt out of data sharing for AI training. However, this setting was activated by default, essentially enrolling users unless they manually disabled it. Subsequent changes to LinkedIn’s privacy policy in September 2024 informed users that their data could be utilized for AI model training, with an FAQ indicating that opting out would not impact previously conducted training exercises.
The lawsuit points out that LinkedIn’s actions violate various sections of its Subscription Agreement and Data Protection Agreement, which outline clear prohibitions against the disclosure of confidential information and define specific purposes for data processing related to the platform’s services. Moreover, the complaint asserts that LinkedIn disregarded the SCA, which prohibits service providers from divulging stored communications without the consent of the users.
Regarding LinkedIn’s response, the lawsuit highlights the platform’s failure to uphold its commitments regarding privacy policy changes. While LinkedIn had pledged to notify users of any alterations and offer an opportunity to object before implementing them, the plaintiffs argue that the company altered its privacy terms retroactively to justify its data-sharing practices.
The lawsuit seeks damages of $1,000 per affected individual under the SCA, includes compensation for the diminished value of subscriptions, and requests injunctive relief to delete all AI models trained using data that was improperly disclosed. These legal actions come against the backdrop of LinkedIn’s acquisition by Microsoft in 2016, raising broader concerns about data privacy across Microsoft’s suite of professional tools like Microsoft 365, Teams, and Word. The plaintiffs express apprehensions about potential privacy breaches, unauthorized profiling, and misuse in sensitive contexts such as employment and business negotiations, cautioning that such integration could exacerbate these risks. LinkedIn’s denial of these allegations as baseless, along with Microsoft declining to comment, leaves the outcome of the lawsuit uncertain.
