LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional networking platforms, with over 774 million users worldwide. The LinkedIn mobile app allows users to access their accounts, network, and search for jobs directly from their smartphones. However, there have been some concerns around the privacy and security of the LinkedIn app.
What data does the LinkedIn app access?
When you install and use the LinkedIn app, you grant it access to a significant amount of data from your mobile device, including:
- Your basic profile information such as name, email address, photo
- Your list of connections/contacts
- Your messages and notifications
- Your interests and groups
- Job searching and application data
- Locations
- Camera and photos
- Microphone
This allows LinkedIn to gather a substantial amount of data about you and your professional connections and activities. It is important to be aware of this when deciding whether to use the app.
Does LinkedIn share or sell user data?
According to LinkedIn’s Privacy Policy, they may share your personal data with third party services providers, including:
- Vendors to provide services such as data analysis, payment processing, customer service, marketing and cloud hosting services for us.
- Advertisers to market their products and services to you. LinkedIn states that they do not sell your personal data to third parties.
- LinkedIn corporate affiliates such as Microsoft.
- Other parties in the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture or assets of LinkedIn.
They state that they only provide third parties with the minimum amount of data necessary. However, their privacy policy does allow them to share your data liberally with partners and affiliates.
Is the LinkedIn app secure?
LinkedIn states that they use industry standard encryption protocols and technologies to secure user data in transit and at rest. This includes:
- TLS/SSL encryption for data in transit
- Encryption of sensitive data at rest
- Authentication mechanisms to identify logged in users
They also monitor systems for suspicious activity and potential vulnerabilities and have response plans in place in the event of a breach. However, no security methods are completely foolproof.
Notable LinkedIn app security issues
- In 2016, approximately 167 million user accounts were compromised in a data breach, exposing emails and passwords.
- Researchers have discovered vulnerabilities that made it possible to circumvent LinkedIn authorization and scrape user data.
- Scammers have previously created fake LinkedIn apps to harvest user data.
While rare, data breaches and vulnerabilities can put user data at risk.
Does the app have access to other personal apps and data?
The LinkedIn app requests access to some device features and information that could give it visibility into other apps and personal data, including:
- Device internet connection
- Ability to pair with Bluetooth devices
- Ability to change audio settings and microphone access
However, there is no evidence that LinkedIn accesses personal data outside of its own app without explicit user permission. The app permissions are likely to facilitate LinkedIn’s own features and services.
Can LinkedIn content be shared publicly?
LinkedIn allows users to publicly share updates, articles, and other content via the Activity Feed and publisher features. This could include:
- Status updates
- Articles and web links
- Photos and videos
- Jobs and opportunities
Users have control over their privacy settings and can limit which connections see their activity. However, publicly shared content could potentially be seen by anyone on the platform or appear in search engines like Google.
Is user content ownership clear?
LinkedIn’s User Agreement states:
“You own the content and information that you submit.”
However, it also grants LinkedIn an expansive license to share and distribute content:
“You grant us a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and royalty-free right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve, distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, process, analyze, use and commercialize in any way now known or in the future discovered, any information you provide.”
Users retain ownership of the content they post, but give LinkedIn broad rights to use and share the information.
Conclusion
The LinkedIn app provides convenience and connection capabilities for professionals worldwide. However, it requires a significant amount of user data to function and grants itself extensive rights to share this data.
LinkedIn does implement security controls to protect user data. However, there are always risks of vulnerabilities that could expose information.
Users should weigh the benefits of having access to their professional network against the privacy risks. Some best practices include:
- Reviewing app permissions and limiting access
- Using two-factor authentication
- Avoiding linking other services or sharing sensitive data
- Checking privacy settings
- Reporting suspicious activity
With awareness and caution regarding app permissions and privacy settings, users can more safely take advantage of the LinkedIn platform.
