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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

#71

Post by kitsune_ »

BigJono wrote: post #58
avip wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Li is aware. “Install our app” nag is by design, and is now part of the pantheon of user hostile web de-facto standards.

You have to wonder where the ethics are on the ground level. I understand that these decisions are made by management in virtually every case, but you still see these kind of dark patterns from places where every engineer is on $100k+ with plenty of leverage against their employer.

Every UX specialist and software engineer I know would be up in arms if they saw such a story in the backlog. I wonder about the internal dynamics of these work places as well.

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

#72

Post by BonesJustice »

nostromo wrote: post #61
sudovancity wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I brought this up to my mother who has been retired now for about 15 years but somehow still has a linkedin account. She never created one but somehow still had a profile, it freaked me out.

My long dead grandpa has been a recommended connection for many years now. He was a home builder and never signed up for an account. I have no idea how they got his info and connected it to me. Creeps me out...

Some shared connection (a family member, maybe?) probably let LinkedIn scan their mailbox without fully understanding the repercussions.

If that person had a persistent inbox like gmail, and ever been in email contact with the both of you, it probably inferred a connection that way. Or maybe it saw an incoming email where both of you were in the recipient or CC list.

It’s really creepy what they do, and it enables them to learn all kinds of information about somebody. That person doesn’t even need to have ever visited LinkedIn; it can be provided entirely by other people.

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

#73

Post by Swenrekcah »

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.

as a result pretty much all my mobile time that would have been spent on reddit is now spent on hn

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

#74

Post by willmacdonald »

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 think if either of you had the other person phone number in their contacts app, and had the LinkedIn app in your phone that would be enough.

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

#75

Post by probably_wrong »

ndnxhs wrote: post #50
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.

As someone who is looking for a new job, I share your experience: all the recruiters that contacted me insisted on doing it by phone. They also won't tell you the name of the company at first, for fear of you bypassing them and going straight to the company's website.

That said, all calls I've had were from actual, honest recruiters who offered me actual jobs that exist and may fit my profile. I'm assuming that asking for phone numbers is how they filter candidates who are not really interested and make them waste their time.

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

#76

Post by tjoff »

uptown wrote: post #2

Just go to the “people you may know” page and you’ll see dozens of shadow profiles of people who clearly don’t have LinkedIn accounts. Mine shows relatives who I know don’t have accounts — but whose contact info was scraped by LinkedIn during my dumber years when I opted into their “help us connect you by linking your account” bullshit. Is there a way to request they remove this data? I sure don’t know how.

And as one of those users that have never had a lindin-account. They will spam each any everyone of those.

Not from no-reply@linkedin... But from your email.

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

#77

Post by tjoff »

brickpaste wrote: post #8
uptown wrote: post #2

Just go to the “people you may know” page and you’ll see dozens of shadow profiles of people who clearly don’t have LinkedIn accounts. Mine shows relatives who I know don’t have accounts — but whose contact info was scraped by LinkedIn during my dumber years when I opted into their “help us connect you by linking your account” bullshit. Is there a way to request they remove this data? I sure don’t know how.

From linkedin.com/settings I clicked sync contacts, which took me to this url: https://www.linkedin.com/mynetwork/settings/manage-syncing There you will find an an option to "remove all."

Once synced it is game over...

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

#78

Post by saagarjha »

ndnxhs wrote: post #48
synaesthesisx wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Neither does Facebook.

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

#79

Post by saagarjha »

ndnxhs wrote: post #52
avip wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Li is aware. “Install our app” nag is by design, and is now part of the pantheon of user hostile web de-facto standards.

Its a typical user engagement trick. If you install the app then you have a constant advert on your home screen and they have the ability to constantly spam you with reengagement notifications

And they get far more access to your information than they would in a browser.

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

#80

Post by antod »

dawhizkid wrote: post #53

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 on Facebook, and are more guarded about what they put professionally on LinkedIn. People approach LinkedIn as more of more of a two way selling relationship. They have a better feeling they know what they're in for.

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