Many employees wonder if it’s possible to prevent their employer from seeing their LinkedIn activity. There are a few reasons why you may want to do this:
- You don’t want your boss or coworkers knowing when you update your profile or search for new jobs.
- You work in an industry where looking at competitor pages could be seen negatively.
- You want to network privately without your company seeing who you’re connecting with.
The short answer is yes, it is possible to hide your LinkedIn activity from your employer to a certain extent. LinkedIn gives users some control over profile visibility settings and activity broadcasts. However, you need to be smart about how you configure your settings to maximize privacy.
How Companies Monitor Employees on LinkedIn
Before diving into steps to hide your activity, it helps to understand how employers monitor employees on LinkedIn in the first place:
- Company Page Followers: HR and managers often look at who follows the company LinkedIn page to keep tabs on current employees. Following the company page indicates you work there.
- Profile Details: Your LinkedIn profile often lists your current employer. Some companies even require employees to link to the company page.
- Notifications and Feeds: By default, LinkedIn shows a feed of your connections’ activity. Employers may see when you update your profile or make new connections.
- Company LinkedIn Network: Depending on privacy settings, your boss and coworkers in your LinkedIn network can see aspects of your profile and activity.
- Browsing History: LinkedIn does track browsing history, which companies could potentially monitor if they have access to employee accounts.
Knowing how you may be monitored will help inform the steps you should take to reduce your LinkedIn visibility.
4 Ways to Hide Your LinkedIn Activity from Your Employer
Here are some smart ways to make your LinkedIn activity more private from employer snooping:
1. Adjust Profile Visibility
LinkedIn allows you to customize your profile visibility under the “Visibility” tab in your Settings:
- Change profile visibility from “Public” to “Connections only” or stricter if you want to limit general access.
- Toggle your company, title, and other employment info to be visible only to connections rather than publicly viewable.
- Consider changing your current position to “Private” visibility – then it’s only visible to you.
Restricting access to employment details makes it harder for your employer to monitor you through profile searches. But use caution when changing current position visibility, as some companies require employees to list their employment.
2. Turn Off Activity Broadcasts
By default, LinkedIn shares certain activity like profile changes and new connections with your network. Turn this sharing off by going to Settings > Communications > Activity broadcasts.
Disable the following activity broadcasts that companies may monitor:
- Changes to your profile
- New connections you make
- Companies, schools, etc. you follow
This prevents notifications being sent to your employer when you update your profile or expand your network.
3. Remove Company Follower
Does your employer follow you on LinkedIn? Go to your followers list and remove them. This prevents the company from seeing all your activity and posts in their feed.
Similarly, make sure you unfollow your company page. This way your activity won’t show up on the company’s “Followers” analytics.
4. Browse Anonymously
LinkedIn does track your browsing history which could theoretically be monitored by your company. When you want to browse more privately:
- Use a personal device not linked to your work email.
- Browse in an incognito or private browser window.
- Consider using a VPN or proxy service to mask your IP address.
This gives you more anonymity when searching profiles, jobs or viewing competitor pages.
Other Precautions
Beyond main profile and activity settings, a few other precautions can further obscure you from employer monitoring:
- If you connect with coworkers, change the relationship visibility to “Only you” can see the connection.
- Be wary of joining private groups that indicate you’re job searching or networking.
- Use customized visibility settings when making posts – for example, excluding company followers.
- Periodically review your profile visibility and activity settings.
It’s also smart to be vague in your profile about current projects and skills. This gives your company less insight into your role.
When Access Is Restricted
Some companies restrict employee access to LinkedIn, either blocking it completely or limiting functionality. Often the intent is to prevent sharing of confidential data or trade secrets.
If this is the case at your company, you may have limited options to hide LinkedIn activity. Some workarounds include:
- Accessing LinkedIn during breaks, off hours or on personal devices only.
- Keeping your profile generic and inactive while employed.
- Focusing networking on public settings or external platforms.
Discuss any concerns transparently with your manager or HR department as well. They may be able to adjust restrictions if the limitations pose career development challenges.
Weighing the Risks
Ultimately you have to evaluate if hiding extensive activity from an employer is beneficial or risky. Consider:
- How strictly your company monitors LinkedIn usage and social media guidelines.
- Whether your activity could be misconstrued as inappropriate or unprofessional.
- If visibility settings align with company policy and your manager’s expectations.
Transparency is ideal if you want to build engaging professional connections without causing suspicion. But employees do have a right to some privacy when networking or advancing their career.
Conclusion
Employees can take steps to obscure LinkedIn activity like profile updates, new connections, and browsing history from employer monitoring. Key settings to leverage include:
- Restricting profile visibility
- Disabling activity broadcasts
- Unfollowing company pages
- Using private browsing
Balancing professionalism with privacy is important on LinkedIn. With the right mix of profile configurations and prudent networking, you can prevent excessive exposure to your employer. But also consider company policies, manager expectations, and ethical use when determining appropriate visibility.
Table Summarizing Key Settings
Setting | How to Adjust | Benefit |
---|---|---|
Profile visibility | Change to “Connections only” or “Just you” | Limits profile access |
Activity broadcasts | Disable notifications for profile, connection, follower changes | Stops automatic announcements |
Company follower status | Unfollow company pages and remove employer follower | Prevents company from seeing your feed |
Browsing setting | Use private window or VPN | Browse anonymously |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I connect with coworkers on LinkedIn?
Use caution when connecting with coworkers, as this allows them to see more of your activity. Change coworker connections to “Only you” can see the connection. Avoid connecting with managers and direct reports.
Can companies see who views their LinkedIn page?
No, LinkedIn removed the ability for Pages to see who views them. Employers can see aggregate Page visitor data but not individual visitors.
Does browsing in private mode hide all activity?
Private browsing prevents recording of your browsing history. However, some activity like profile views may still be visible to others. Use common sense when viewing coworker profiles privately.
What are the risks of hiding my LinkedIn activity?
Employers may view extensive hiding of activity negatively, as it can look suspicious. Make sure your settings align with company policies. Radical changes in visibility when job searching may also tip off an employer.
Can I get in legal trouble for hiding LinkedIn activity?
In most cases, no. As long as you are using LinkedIn ethically, responsibly, and not sharing proprietary data, you have flexibility to configure visibility settings. Exceptions apply for regulated industries.
In Closing
Finding a good balance between maintaining your professional network and limiting employer visibility is important on LinkedIn. Take advantage of available settings, browse privately, and exercise good judgement in your activity. With a little caution, you can prevent excessive monitoring of your networking while still capitalizing on LinkedIn’s connections.