LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional networking platforms, with over 722 million users worldwide as of April 2021. With so many profiles on LinkedIn, it’s common to search for people you may know or are interested in connecting with professionally.
However, sometimes you may search for someone and view their profile in the search results, but not actually click on their profile to view it fully. So what happens in that case from a privacy and data perspective? Here’s a closer look at what information is visible and what data may be collected when searching on LinkedIn.
Profile Photo and Name are Visible
When you search for someone on LinkedIn, their profile photo and name will be visible in the search results preview. This allows you to identify the correct individual before clicking on their full profile.
So if you search for “John Smith,” you’ll see profile photos and names of the various John Smiths on LinkedIn. This minimal amount of profile information is publicly viewable even without clicking through to their full profile.
Basic Profile Info Visible in Search Results
In addition to the photo and name, some basic profile info may be shown in the search results preview. This typically includes current job title and company, school attended, and location.
For example, the preview may show:
John Smith
Software Engineer at XYZ Company
San Francisco Bay Area
Seeing this preview allows you to further confirm it’s the right person before viewing the full profile. But limited info is displayed at this search results stage versus on the full public profile page.
Public Profile Info Not Visible
Any additional profile info beyond the basics described above will require clicking through to the full profile page. Info like past work experience, education history, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and other public profile details are not visible in the limited search results preview.
So you won’t see a full resume, list of skills and expertise areas, or recommendations from colleagues without actually opening the profile itself after searching.
Private Profile Details Stay Hidden
For LinkedIn members who have chosen to make their full profile visibility limited to their connections only, search previews display only the name, photo, and current job title/company. No other information is surfaced publicly for private profiles.
Any sections the member has chosen to show just to connections, like contact info, custom applications/websites, volunteer experience, courses, patents, publications, test scores, honors & awards, and more stay completely hidden from public view in search.
Profile Views May Be Tracked
LinkedIn does track profile views as part of your account analytics. This allows members to see who has viewed their profile recently. However, searching for someone and seeing their preview in results does not automatically trigger a profile view tracking.
Profile views are only tracked when you click through to open the full profile page. Just searching and keeping the preview open does not count as a view. So you can search without worrying about the person being notified or your view being logged.
Limit Ad Tracking Setting
LinkedIn does allow you to limit ad tracking in your account settings. When enabled, LinkedIn states they will not use your name, photo, or other profile information to serve you personalized ads.
With limit ad tracking enabled, searching for someone should not result in saving or tracking that info for advertising profiles. However, it likely does save search query data anonymously for general platform analytics and optimization.
Search Appears in Browsing History
Your LinkedIn search history and browsing activity is tracked in your account. You can view the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section to see search queries you’ve run recently, even if you didn’t click into profiles.
So searches do appear in your browsing history for your reference. But the preservation is only visible privately to you, not the individuals searched for.
Messaging and InMail Not Possible
Without opening a person’s full LinkedIn profile, the options to connect via chat messaging or send an InMail note are not available. Searching alone does not present any options to message or contact the individuals returned in results.
Being able to message requires either an existing connection on LinkedIn, or viewing the full profile page and using the InMail feature. So limited contact capability exists with just searching and previewing alone.
No Data Shared from Search Alone
In summary, while basic profile info is visible in search preview results, simply searching and previewing someone’s limited info does not appear to trigger any data access or sharing.
No full profile details are displayed, private data remains hidden, and no contact or messaging capabilities are enabled without further engagement on the site. Just searching alone provides minimal visibility by design while protecting privacy.
Conclusion
When searching on LinkedIn, minimal member information is displayed in preview results prior to clicking through to full profiles. This allows confirming identity before viewing full profiles. No private details or full profiles are accessible prior to directly engaging with the site.
While searches are tracked in browsing history, they do not appear to count as profile views for the individuals looked up. And ad tracking can be limited in settings to further protect info. Overall, searching alone provides limited visibility while maintaining expected privacy controls before engaging further.