Complaint against LinkedIn for its new privacy policy

Hibapress

Belgian consumer protection organisation Testachats announced on Thursday that it had filed a complaint with the Data Protection Authority (DPA) against the new privacy policy of professional networking platform LinkedIn.

According to Testachats, LinkedIn can now exploit data, including photos and private messages from its users, to develop its artificial intelligence tools “in a hidden way”. This change in the privacy policy took place on March 26.

“Without asking your consent, LinkedIn is assuming the right to use all your searches, photos, publications and even your private messages to train its artificial intelligence,” denounces Jean-Philippe Ducart, manager and spokesperson for Testachats.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which applies within the European Union provides that any change in the processing of personal data must have been announced in a clear and transparent manner, and that a right of opposition must always be available to allow users to refuse the use of their data.

The consumer protection organization believes that “LinkedIn is acting in a completely illegal manner by indicating that users opposed to a change in the platform’s privacy policy are simply invited to close their account.”

“For the record, LinkedIn does provide an opposition form to consumers, but the support services do not respond to it, making it ineffective,” it is noted.

This is not Testachats’ first attempt. The organization had already filed a complaint against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, last June for similar reasons. Less than a month later, Meta announced that it was putting its project on hold.