LinkedIn misused emails of 18M non-users to target ads on Facebook

Many sites have previously come under attack for using user data for different purposes without their consent. The recent one to join the list is LinkedIn, which is said to have used emails of 18 million non-users to target Facebook ads.

In a report issued last week by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), it was stated that after covering the employment-oriented service LinkedIn’s activities for the first six months of 2018, it was discovered that the used email addresses of millions of non-LinkedIn users to target ads on Facebook, reported Tech Crunch.

After the complaint, the DPC carried out an audit and discovered that it violated the data protection rules. In order to grow its user base, LinkedIn ‘processed hashed email addresses of approximately 18 million non-LinkedIn member’. It then used those email addresses to target those individuals with ads on Facebook and get more people sign up for LinkedIn.

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LinkedIn too accepted the fact, however, as per the DPC, the ‘complaint was ultimately amicably resolved’ and the company has ceased those practices. Further investigation also revealed that LinkedIn was making use of users’ personal data to recommend personal networks for them. This practice too was stopped, reported The Verge.

In a statement to Tech Crunch, LinkedIn said, “We appreciate the DPC’s 2017 investigation of a complaint about an advertising campaign and fully cooperated. Unfortunately the strong processes and procedures we have in place were not followed and for that we are sorry.

“We’ve taken appropriate action, and have improved the way we work to ensure that this will not happen again. During the audit, we also identified one further area where we could improve data privacy for non-members and we have voluntarily changed our practices as a result.”