Reuters reported on January 22 according to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of millions of customers using LinkedIn’s premium package. The plaintiff alleges that user data was illegally exploited, before the platform silently installed a feature allowing users to proactively turn on or off personal data sharing in August 2024.
The customer said LinkedIn then quietly updated its privacy policy on September 18, 2024 to say the data could be used to train AI models. In the “frequently asked questions” section, LinkedIn also updated content stating that opting out “does not impact (AI) training that has already taken place.”
Outside LinkedIn headquarters in California
The plaintiff accuses LinkedIn of wanting to “cover its tracks” of violating customer privacy and going against its commitment to only use personal data to support and improve its platform. According to Reuters, personal information of millions of LinkedIn Premium users was disclosed to third parties for AI training before September 18, 2024.
The lawsuit was sent to the court in San Jose, California (USA), accusing LinkedIn of violating the contract, unfair competition law in the state and demanding compensation of 1,000 USD for each user.
LinkedIn denied the allegations, saying the plaintiffs made false and unsubstantiated claims.
The lawsuit was filed a few hours after US President Donald Trump announced an investment project to build AI infrastructure worth up to 500 billion USD, led by a joint venture between three companies Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI. However, billionaire Elon Musk is skeptical that the main investors do not really have such a large amount of money.
