Skip to main content

LinkedIn opts 100 million members into sharing user information within advertisements

linkedin-office
Image used with permission by copyright holder

LinkedIn users are upset that the company has taken the Facebook approach in regards to online privacy with a recent change to the privacy policy. After providing more privacy settings for the user to alter, the social network automatically opted-in its 100 million users into the social advertising program. LinkedIn informed users of the change with an official blog post and a banner ad that linked to descriptions of the changes as well as a link to Account Settings to alter the new setting. As of the original time and date of this article, when a LinkedIn user views a third-party advertisement on the social network, they see user profile pictures and names of connections if that connection has recommended or followed a brand.

Recommended Videos

Any time that a user follows a brand, they unwittingly become a cheerleader for the company or organization if it advertises through LinkedIn. A user could be following a brand for any number of reasons, not just endorsing it. For instance, a mid-level executive at Coca-Cola may follow PepsiCo to keep track of a competitor’s career opportunities, product announcements or mentions in the news. If PepsiCo purchases advertising on LinkedIn, anyone in the network of the Coca-Cola executive (likely many co-workers) that views the advertisement may become aware that their connection is interested in PepsiCo for an unnamed reason.  

linkedin-social-adIn order to opt out of social advertising, the LinkedIn user has to take four steps to escape third-party advertisements:

  1. Hover over the user name in the top right hand corner of any LinkedIn page and click ‘Settings’. 
  2. On the Settings page, click ‘Account’. 
  3. On the Account tab, click ‘Manage Social Advertising’. 
  4. Uncheck the box next to “LinkedIn may use my name, photo in social advertising.” and click the save button.

Users also may want to opt out of receiving email from LinkedIn advertisers. This setting also allows LinkedIn advertising partners to send users promotions during email marketing campaigns if the user follows the brand. To opt out of this setting, click the Email Preferences tab and click on the ‘Turn on/off partner InMail’ link to locate the check box. 

It’s also been reported that LinkedIn likely broke Dutch privacy law after opting all Netherlands users into the new setting. The Dutch Data Protection Authority requires social networks and other online agencies to ask users before allowing consent for using portraits within advertisements. Legal authorities have faulted LinkedIn for opting users into the service without initial consent as well as failing to educate users about the change. As of the original time and date of this article, LinkedIn has yet to respond to recent criticism of the new social advertising policy through a press release or an official blog post.

linkedin-social-newUpdate: On July 11, LinkedIn posted an update on their official blog to roll back changes within the social advertising program and removed user profile pictures from the ads. The new advertisement (as seen to the right) links a section of text within the sentence “‘X’ people in your network follow ‘Brand Name’ on LinkedIn”. LinkedIn did not specify if the link goes to the main brand / company page or to a page identifying the people following the brand / company.

Topics
Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Instagram shows love to smaller accounts that post original content
Notifications related to Instagram's new algorithm to surface content linked to smaller accounts.

Instagram is starting to show some love to smaller accounts that post original content. The Meta-owned media-sharing platform announced in a blog post on Tuesday that it’s making a number of changes to give more prominence to material posted by “smaller, original content creators” over those with large followings and aggregators of reposted content, which up until now have received greater exposure in recommendations.

The move to give those with smaller followings more reach on Instagram involves making four changes to the current way of doing things, the company said.

Read more
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
A person holding a phone with the Instagram app open on it.

Oh, social media. Sometimes it’s just too much, folks. If you’re finding yourself in a position where shutting down your Instagram account for a period of time sounds good, Meta’s powers that be have made it pretty simple to deactivate your Instagram account. It’s also quite easy to completely delete your Instagram, although we wouldn’t recommend this latter option if you plan on returning to the platform at a later date.

Read more
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more