Live data from Hacker News

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

techcrunch.com

131–140 of 151 posts

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

#131

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.

To be fair, they could just be saying LinkedIn because it's easier than saying they bought the number from some shady middlemen, and people are less likely to react negatively to it. Unless you used a unique number only for LinkedIn, the number could have been shared by anyone (even your telco).

they could just be saying LinkedIn because it's easier than saying they bought the number from some shady middlemen

What's the difference?

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

#132
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus no opportunity to block ads + trackers, etc. in the embedded chromium-based browser.

First thing I do when I click on a link on LinkedIn is to open the context/share menu and press “open in Safari”. Hopefully if enough people do this it will make it clear in their analytics that nobody wants their shitty knockoff browser. The worst is that it’s using deprecated APIs on iOS that make it several times slower than Safari.

It’s still using UIWebView?!

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

#133
post #89

accurate description of LinkedIn by Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick https://youtu.be/xmo8-Bh98fw?t=270

Funny because on their home landing page, there is a gallery of people. The one at top, second from left, is a dead ringer for Blake Lively. I wonder if that spawned the question.

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

#134
This doesn't surprise me. They went out of their way uploading my contacts without my permission even after declining multiple times, over multiple phone and app versions, as well as adding my connections to my phone contacts... I can't tell if they're stupid or evil.

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

#135
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.

This is directly out of the marketing playbook of most social media sites. If you really believe this, then they got you! They spend a fortune trying to convince people they can’t have a social life or find a job without their services, and people are starting to believe it!

Please rest assured: you can get a job without LinkedIn and you can keep up with friends, family, and events without Facebook. We did it long before these services ever existed.

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

#136
post #6

LinkedIn is one of the worse dark-pattern based business out there. Their whole business model is based on making connections between people, however unwanted they are. They use any means necessary to get your contact list and abuse it to spam your contacts with dubious marketing ploys and unverifiable claims (someone looked you up! you're missing on new jobs opportunities!). Liars. I've resisted creating an account…

> the pressure to conform is there as you basically "don't exist" without a profile that lazy HR managers can look up I find this is an effective filter for those trying to avoid working for a red-tape-filled, default big corp. The more bureaucracy visible before getting there, the better. For those that explain it away as a bad HR does not make the company bad, if you're good enough to be picky there are good compan…

I got my after graduation job 1 year before graduation through LinkedIn recruiting of a very big engineering corp (100k> employee big), with way better pay than my after internship offer from an American cloud company.

The recruitment process was mostly flawless, very friendly and professional. I never felt so welcomed and on the same level as there. That actually made the tipping point for me going from only startup/midsize companies during studies to big corp. In terms of quality it was way above and beyond of the random headhunter companies offers (I get a few per week, 99% crap).

On the other hand that big corp is not publicly listed, so that might heavily influence their culture.

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

#138

What I don't get is why Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman are never held accountable for their blatant disregard for user privacy despite many lawsuits over the years. Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? Why is Reid Hoffman today selling a book on "blitzscaling" which is all about achieving hypergrowth at all cost? Could you imagine how tone…

> Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? I have no idea, but the cynic in me says "because Facebook forms a bigger threat to media organizations".

LinkedIn is also less "sexy" to cover for the media than Facebook. Nobody cares about LinkedIn news, especially in middle America, but Facebook is popular everywhere.

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

#139

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…

Maybe LinkedIn matched you by geolocation? That would be closely related to sharing the same IP address or Wi-Fi network.

A lot of first pass geolocation is done by IP so the user doesn't have to be asked for permission.

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

#140
post #80

What I don't get is why Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman are never held accountable for their blatant disregard for user privacy despite many lawsuits over the years. Why is their reputation still so in tact even when Zuck/Sandberg's is hurting over the exact same privacy violations? Why is Reid Hoffman today selling a book on "blitzscaling" which is all about achieving hypergrowth at all cost? Could you imagine how tone…

It makes sense to me - public privacy backlash tends to be limited to what they can understand is happening, and for the most part that is only really concerned with what you are actually sharing rather than what they can link to you via metadata and other dark patterns. Hell a lot of that stuff goes over my head too - the general public just isn't aware of how this works behind the scenes. People put personal stuff…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN