LinkedIn, the professional social network owned by Microsoft, has implemented a controversial data collection policy to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models, excluding European users from this practice.
European users protected by strict privacy laws
In a twist that underlines the importance of data protection regulations, LinkedIn users in the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland are not affected by this new measure. This exclusion is attributed to the robust privacy laws in place in these regions, which offer greater protection to citizens’ personal data.
Controversy in the US over lack of transparency
Meanwhile, US LinkedIn users have discovered that the platform has automatically included them in a data “donation” program for AI model training. This decision was made without prior notification and without updating the company’s privacy policy, leading to criticism over the lack of transparency.
Data use for platform improvements
LinkedIn claims that this data will be used to improve features such as its AI writing assistant and post recommendations. However, the company has not provided information on the destination of the data already collected or on the training done to date.
Worrying trend in the tech sector
This LinkedIn practice adds to a growing trend among large tech companies. Recently, Meta admitted to collecting public data from Facebook and Instagram users since 2007 to train its AI models, also without explicit consent.
Implications for privacy and informed consent
The LinkedIn case highlights the widening gap between privacy practices in Europe and the United States. While European users benefit from greater protection thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), US users face more lenient and often confusing privacy policies.
This situation raises important questions about informed consent and user control over their personal data in the AI era. It also underscores the need for greater global harmonization in data protection regulations to ensure that all users, regardless of their location, have control over how their personal data is used.