LinkedIn sued in US for giving users' private messages to train artificial intelligence models: Report

LinkedIn faces class action lawsuit from Premium users over unauthorized use of private messages for AI training.

Published on: Jan 23, 2025, 14:15:10 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Abhyjith K. Ashokan

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Microsoft's LinkedIn is facing a class action lawsuit from its Premium customers who claim it has disclosed their private messages to train artificial intelligence (AI) models without their permission, news agency Reuters reported.

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed LinkedIn logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

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The development comes after LinkedIn quietly introduced a privacy setting in August 2024 that lets users enable or disable the sharing of their personal data.

However, on September 18, LinkedIn discreetly updated the policy, saying the data could be used to train AI models.

In a "frequently asked questions" hyperlink, the social media platform said opting out "does not affect training that has already taken place."

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The report quoted the complaint as claiming that this is an attempt to "cover its tracks" and that LinkedIn was fully aware it violated customers' privacy and its promise to use personal data only to support and improve its platform.

The lawsuit was filed in the San Jose, California, federal court, seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and violations of California's unfair competition law, and $1,000 per person for violations of the federal Stored Communications Act, according to the report.

LinkedIn however, claimed that "These are false claims with no merit," the report read.

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The lawsuit was filed several hours after US President Donald Trump announced the Stargate project, a $500 billion venture by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to build AI infrastructure in the country.

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HT News Desk
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