There are a few reasons why law enforcement may look at someone’s LinkedIn profile during an investigation:
To gather background information
LinkedIn provides a wealth of information about a person’s employment history, education, skills, accomplishments, connections, and more. Police can use this to learn more about a suspect or person of interest’s background. It helps them understand the context of the investigation and look for patterns or inconsistencies.
To identify relationships and associates
A LinkedIn network shows who someone is connected to professionally. Police can analyze these connections to find relationships that may be relevant to an investigation. For example, it could link a suspect to a company or other associates involved in illegal activity.
To look for evidence of crimes
Information on a LinkedIn profile could provide evidence related to financial, cyber, or corporate crimes. This may include falsified credentials, suspicious employment gaps, inflated skills, shady business connections, and more.
To track movements and locations
Employment history and education on LinkedIn can help police identify locations a person has lived, worked, or studied. This information can verify or contrast with a suspect’s statements and track their movements over time.
To identify potential witnesses
Former coworkers, classmates, employers, business associates, and connections on LinkedIn may be able to provide useful witness testimonies in investigations or trials. Police can use LinkedIn networks to locate these potential witnesses.
Why LinkedIn profiles are valuable to law enforcement
Here are some key reasons why law enforcement finds LinkedIn profiles valuable:
LinkedIn profiles contain detailed professional information
While social media like Facebook and Instagram tend to highlight people’s personal lives, LinkedIn focuses on professional details like work history, education, certifications, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and professional networking. This provides a goldmine of in-depth, verifiable background information for police investigations.
The data is organized and searchable
LinkedIn data is nicely organized and labeled (e.g. positions, education, places lived, skills). This makes it easy for law enforcement to search profiles and quickly find pertinent information. Advanced searches also allow filtering profile data.
Profiles have established credibility
Since LinkedIn is designed for professional networking and recruiting, members are motivated to provide accurate employment histories, qualifications, education, etc. This gives law enforcement some reasonable assurance the data is truthful.
Information links suspects to organizations, jobs, and people
LinkedIn connections, employment details, co-workers, classmates, and groups all help establish relationships between a suspect and organizations, employers, jobs, schools, and other people that may be relevant to an investigation.
Data mining tools access profile information
Law enforcement agencies use data mining tools that can rapidly scrape information from LinkedIn profiles for quick analysis and matching against other data sources. This enables them to gather intelligence from LinkedIn on a large scale.
What specific profile information is valuable to law enforcement?
Here are some specific types of LinkedIn data that are particularly valuable to police and investigators:
Employment History
– Past and current jobs
– Companies worked for
– Dates employed
– Job titles and roles
– Responsibilities and accomplishments
– Skills used or developed
– Co-workers
– Gaps in employment
– Job changes and frequent moves
Education
– Degrees obtained
– Schools attended
– Years graduated
– Academic accomplishments
– Classmates
– Coursework and majors
– Certifications
Skills
– Specialized skills and abilities
– Technical competencies
– Proficiencies mentioned by others
– Languages known
Recommendations
– Praise or concerns from past colleagues
– Descriptions of work done
– Qualities, ethics, attitudes exhibited
– People providing the recommendations
Profile Details
– Location
– Industry affiliations
– Non-profit volunteering
– Honors and awards
– Personal website links
– Custom URLs
– Username/vanity names
Connections
– Professional contacts and networks
– Related connections in common
– Second-degree connections
– Notable or suspicious connections
Groups and Interests
– Professional associations
– Alumni groups
– Student groups
– Industry groups
– Causes and affiliations
Techniques police use to leverage LinkedIn profiles
Law enforcement have developed some clever investigative techniques for extracting information from LinkedIn:
Compare profiles belonging to associates
LinkedIn connections and shared groups can identify clusters of connected profiles that may be involved in organized activity. Police can compare timelines, locations, employers, and educational overlaps to identify hidden relationships and commonalities.
Look foretailed connections
While direct connections are visible, tools like LinkedIn Recruiter allow law enforcement to also identify detailed 2nd and 3rd degree connections. This turns up expanded personal and professional networks.
Cross-reference with other records and databases
Information from LinkedIn profiles can be checked against employment records, school records, tax records, legal databases, etc. Inconsistencies may indicate falsified or exaggerated credentials.
Make undercover connections
Police sometimes create undercover LinkedIn accounts to connect with suspects and gain access to private profile data only shared with direct connections. This provides a wealth of non-public information.
Analyze changes over time
Law enforcement can view previous versions of profiles that have been altered. Analyzing changes made to a profile over months or years can reveal suspicious modifications and inconsistencies.
Use data mining tools
Authorities use scraping and data mining tools to quickly gather LinkedIn data matched to specific criteria. This enables batch gathering of profiles, connections, timelines, locations, and other fields.
Issue subpoenas for account data
Police can issue legal subpoenas to LinkedIn to provide detailed subscriber information and full profiles not publicly visible. This may produce account metadata, logs, private messages, deleted content, and more.
Real World Examples
Here are some real world examples of how law enforcement have used LinkedIn profiles during investigations:
Fraud Investigation
The FBI investigated a massive fraud scheme and used LinkedIn to identify relationships between suspects and uncover falsified employment histories, unexplained wealth, suspicious job changes, and inflated qualifications.
Criminal Network Dismantled
A major mafia network was taken down after police analyzed LinkedIn connections and employer details to uncover hidden relationships between members located across the globe.
Catching a Hacker
A prolific hacker was caught after boasting about his skills on LinkedIn. Police traced connections to identify his real name. His online activity ceased immediately after officers paid him a visit.
Insider Trading
An insider trading scam was revealed by tracing relationships between fraudsters through shared former employers and recommendations left on LinkedIn profiles.
Software Piracy
A company’s CTO was arrested for major software piracy after police established he’d falsified his credentials on LinkedIn. Subpoenaed emails proved he’d purchased and distributed illegal software.
Limitations of Relying on LinkedIn Data
While LinkedIn provides abundant background data, there are some limitations to relying on it:
Information may be falsified or embellished
Since LinkedIn profiles are self-reported, details like skills, credentials, responsibilities, and accomplishments may be exaggerated or fabricated. Criminals may intentionally misrepresent their qualifications.
Not everyone keeps their profiles updated
Many LinkedIn users do not actively maintain their profiles. Important details like recent jobs or location changes may be omitted or outdated.
Identity verification challenges
It can be difficult to definitively establish the true identity of a LinkedIn member, as profiles only require an email address to create.
No data on personal lives
Unlike social media accounts, LinkedIn provides limited insight into suspects’ personal lives, relationships, interests, and recent activities.
Connections may not be interactive
While LinkedIn shows professional networks, many connections are inactive or have limited real-world interaction. This makes relationship analysis less reliable.
Private data requires court orders
Key account data like IP addresses and private messages require police to issue subpoenas and court orders. This slows the investigative process.
Legality and Ethics Concerns
While leveraging LinkedIn data has proven valuable in criminal investigations, it raises some legality and ethics concerns:
Privacy expectations
Some legal experts argue people have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding their employment data, credentials, and professional relationships documented on career-oriented sites like LinkedIn.
Use of fake profiles
Police creating fake undercover LinkedIn accounts to circumvent privacy controls and gather non-public information has been criticized as unethical and deceptive.
Fishing expeditions
Authorities have been accused of “fishing expeditions” – speculatively gathering troves of LinkedIn data on people without specific probable cause.
Subpoena overreach
Obtaining users’ private LinkedIn data via sweeping subpoenas sidesteps more stringent requirements for accessing other online communications like email.
Lack of notification
Users are typically not notified when law enforcement accesses their LinkedIn data, preventing them from objecting to privacy violations.
Reliance on inaccurate data
Basing charges solely on unverified LinkedIn information that’s possibly false or misrepresented could result in unfair reputational damage or false accusations.
| Require specific probable cause before gathering data | Verify the accuracy of profile details |
| Limit data collected to minimum needed | Allow subject notice and ability to contest use |
| Obtain full court warrants, not just subpoenas | Avoid deceptive practices like fake profiles |
| Get upfront consent for voluntary data sharing | Restrict use of data gathering tools |
Conclusion
LinkedIn has become a valuable tool for law enforcement investigations due to the depth of professional information and networks contained in user profiles. However, proper privacy protections and verification of accuracy are critical when leveraging LinkedIn data. As more daily life moves online, we must continue debating the appropriate parameters for government access to the public data we share and generate through our online activities. Striking the right balance is crucial for preserving both security and liberty.
