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LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

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Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#41

Post by fizx »

reaperducer wrote: post #12
downandout wrote: post #9

LinkedIn's growth, much like Facebook's, can mostly be attributed to the use of its "contact importer," which seems to have been where the 18M email addresses came from. Generally speaking, you should read the fine print when using such "features". I do see an issue with part of this complaint: storing hashed emails and uploading those to use for targeted advertisements. The general consensus seems to be that even un…

An e-mail hash is more specific than an IP address, yet from what I read on HN, IP addresses are considered PII by GDPR.

IP addresses are more promiscuous than email addresses--i.e. your family and neighbors are relatively likely to share an address and/or subnet.

That means that your family can see ads targeted at your bad habits that they might not otherwise be aware of.

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#42

Post by nsajko »

masonic wrote: post #24
forkLding wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of that mobile popup I always get that tells me to download their mobile app when I'm viewing Linkedin on a mobile phone and I can't move on unless I press something.

Reddit is almost unusable on mobile browsers because of this.

You can use https://old.reddit.com .

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#43

Post by mwfunk »

People are talking about how they have a LinkedIn account and how creepy it is when LinkedIn suggests Facebook friends who don’t have LinkedIn accounts, but obscure that information in some way. You think you’re sending a friend (who you mistakenly believe already has a LinkedIn account) a connection request, but really LinkedIn has tricked you into spamming your own friends on LinkedIn’s behalf. This is obviously bad, but I’ve seen much worse.

I first made a LinkedIn account a few years ago because I got an email that my sister wanted to connect on LinkedIn. I’m not into social networks at all, but in the interest of family bonds I clicked the link to make an account and “connect” with her.

So I made the account, and the link in the email must’ve been set up to automatically connect our accounts. But a few days later she emails me that she got my LinkedIn request via email, but she hadn’t yet made an account, and as soon as she made one she’d add me. So this was a tricky spamming strategy in which no one started out with an account, but neither party was aware of that.

TL;DR LinkedIn knew my sister’s email address, my email address, and our connection, and basically tricked both of us into thinking that the other person was already on LinkedIn and wanted to connect. That’s a step beyond what people are talking about here, and is IMO seriously sketchy, unprofessional, and messed up. I don’t think they kept up this practice for very long, but it’s so over the top and beyond the pale that I’m surprised it didn’t result in lawsuits and the entire company being tarnished for decades. Obviously they’ve tarnished their name in plenty of other ways, but the fact that no one talks about this particular practice makes me wonder what other awful stuff they do that most people don’t know about.

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#46

Post by oh_sigh »

ptd wrote: post #20
whiddershins wrote: post #19

I am 99% sure LinkedIN used my IP address to match with my second floor neighbor, despite their claims that they would never use IP address as a connection data point. I was sharing my wifi for a brief period with my neighbors on the second floor. My neighbor had a new room mate. The guy was from another country. He didn't work in the same industry I do. I didn't have any of his contact information anywhere on any of…

I suspect that information can be obtained in ways other than IP addresses. Close enough to be the same thing, but enough distance to state, “we’re not tracking IP addresses”, and have their lawyers approve.

Just hashes of IP addresses

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#47

Post by zeroname »

paavoova wrote: post #35
zeroname wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And what about members? Presumably, they agreed to this. > It's utterly horrifying that a professional has to sell themselves on glorified social media and all its nefarious practices just to give themselves a change on the job market. I would say that's a gravely mistaken belief.

Arguably, you have no choice in a lot of such matters, so any agreement is by submission. If "the" popular platform is X, and you're not using it, you're missing out. And it isn't far fetched to consider instances where choice of any kind isn't applicable. > I would say that's a gravely mistaken belief. Plenty of companies appear to use third-party recruitment services, which entails you giving your personal, identif…

> If "the" popular platform is X, and you're not using it, you're missing out.

Missing out on what? What good opportunity comes through LinkedIn? By my account, nobody actually likes LinkedIn and nobody takes it serious. Nobody will hold not using it against you.

> Plenty of companies appear to use third-party recruitment services, which entails you giving your personal, identifiable information to a third-party instead of going directly to said company. LinkedIn being one of such third-parties, indirectly or otherwise. The observation that trends like LinkedIn are a imposed reality is in no way a mistake.

That's not what I replied to. You said "It's utterly horrifying that a professional has to sell themselves on glorified social media". You don't have to do that. Believing that is a mistake and only helps LinkedIn achieve more dominance.

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#48

Post by ndnxhs »

synaesthesisx wrote: post #37
clumsysmurf wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

linkedIn was suggesting people that were using the same wifi network as I was. I thought this was spooky — I could see more info about my hotel guests than they probably realized.

They most certainly do. In fact, they're worse than Facebook in many areas - particularly in their blatant disregard for privacy.

LinkedIn doesn't even pretend to have any sense of privacy.

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#49

Post by ndnxhs »

masonic wrote: post #24
forkLding wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of that mobile popup I always get that tells me to download their mobile app when I'm viewing Linkedin on a mobile phone and I can't move on unless I press something.

Reddit is almost unusable on mobile browsers because of this.

Every time I click a link it asks if I want to install the app or continue in the browser and the icon for browser is chrome despite me not even having chrome installed.

Re: LinkedIn violated data protection by using 18M email addresses of non-members

#50

Post by ndnxhs »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #5

I naively installed the app on my phone, which gave them my phone number. Then I started getting cold calls from people who paid to have access to my number through LinkedIn. I never entered my number anywhere, however the cold callers repeatedly told me they got my information from LinkedIn.

I repeatedly get spammed on linked in with "job offers". I took the bait the first time and said I might be interested if they give more info and they just asked for my phone number so I ignored them.
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