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LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

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Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#71

Post by mrtksn »

mpclark wrote: post #45
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #12

> "LinkedIn allows you to sign in to your email account and it will scan your contacts..." Hand my contacts list to a website? No thank you. When is letting a website have this a good idea, not just Linkedin, but ever ?

I'm the same -- I never allow websites to riffle through my contacts, and would certainly never give up access to my email account to do it. However, mobile apps have a much easier time of it. Looking at the contacts stored on one's phone is just one of the many permissions they request, and users are conditioned to just click past that screen anyway.

By mobile you mean Android. In IOS, apps needs to explicitly ask the user to access the contacts after installing the app.

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#72

Post by grayprog »

For what it's worth, LinkedIn has different wording on this page for people who have an account and those who don't. For people who have an account already, the button says "Connect". For those who don't it says "Add to Network". I agree that even "Add to Network" may mean to "my network", which is misleading.

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#73

Post by unclebucknasty »

edstock wrote: post #23

This is not the only underhanded practise from LinkedIn. I've had endorsements from people whom I know haven't logged into LinkedIn for years, including one from my partner who was sat next to me at the time and had even forgotten they had an old account there.

That's interesting. Recently, I've been receiving endorsements that seem completely random from some connections. For instance, I got one from an old college buddy (with whom I've connected, but haven't had time to catch-up) for "product management".

Got another endorsement from someone else who also had no way of knowing my skillset in a particular area.

Was thinking maybe they accidentally clicked on that intrusive, dark pattern of a prompt that keeps appearing atop the site. Now, I'm not so sure.

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#74

Post by hahainternet »

etfb wrote: post #18

I know I'm a bitch for laughing that an article about Linked In inflating its usage figures is posted on Google+.

Surely the fact it's posted from there indicates that the whole "its a ghost town, they're just lying" meme might be obviously false?

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#75

Post by jebus989 »

grey-area wrote: post #61

This obsession with collecting users (dead or alive) reminds me of Gogol's Dead Souls - companies trading in users (who may or may not exist) in order to boost their standing and taking out huge loans on the basis of their illusory popularity. Even illusory users can have some value, just like the dead serfs in Gogol's tale, and like the dead serfs, their value is not in their existence, but in being entries on a led…

Is there any evidence LinkedIn reports all members email contacts as LinkedIn users?

The g+ post just displays OP's confusion at "connect" really meaning "invite" in instances where contacts don't have a LinkedIn account.

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#77

Post by blueskin_ »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #12

> "LinkedIn allows you to sign in to your email account and it will scan your contacts..." Hand my contacts list to a website? No thank you. When is letting a website have this a good idea, not just Linkedin, but ever ?

When is letting a website have this a good idea, not just Linkedin, but ever?

Never.

I'm amazed how many people fall for it.

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#78

Post by blueskin_ »

mpclark wrote: post #45
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #12

> "LinkedIn allows you to sign in to your email account and it will scan your contacts..." Hand my contacts list to a website? No thank you. When is letting a website have this a good idea, not just Linkedin, but ever ?

I'm the same -- I never allow websites to riffle through my contacts, and would certainly never give up access to my email account to do it. However, mobile apps have a much easier time of it. Looking at the contacts stored on one's phone is just one of the many permissions they request, and users are conditioned to just click past that screen anyway.

http://hub.cm/blog/cm-feature-highlight-privacy-guard

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#79

Post by blueskin_ »

Spearchucker wrote: post #53
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #12

> "LinkedIn allows you to sign in to your email account and it will scan your contacts..." Hand my contacts list to a website? No thank you. When is letting a website have this a good idea, not just Linkedin, but ever ?

This question (" ...but ever? ") is a good one. How many people balk at sharing their contact list with LinkedIn, and yet install apps from LinkedIn and also WhatsApp, Facebook or PayPal on their phones, all of which access the contact list anyway?

I'd never install such apps. I once had the Facebook one, long, long ago, but nuked it when the update wanted mic/camera access (and now it wants to read people's SMS on top of that...).

Re: LinkedIn is not using email contacts to find people who have an account already

#80

Post by imdsm »

buro9 wrote: post #17
icebraining wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it cause the same distress if the deceased person really had had a LinkedIn account? Seems to me that the distress is not caused by the tactics in and of themselves.

Recently deceased is forgiveable. Long-deceased is massively insensitive. Those suggestions should be restricted to profiles of people recently active that you may know.

Really though, how would they know? How can they know?
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