LinkedIn’s Premium Users File Lawsuit In US Court Alleging Data Sharing Without Consent

LinkedIn’s Premium Users File Lawsuit In US Court Alleging Data Sharing Without Consent

Seek unspecified damages for breach of contract and $1,000 per person for violations of the federal Stored Communications Act

A class-action lawsuit in the US District Court, Northern District of California by LinkedIn’s Premium customers has accused the business-focused social media platform of disclosing their messages to third parties without permission.

Millions of users claimed that to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, Microsoft’s LinkedIn stealthily introduced a privacy setting in August that let users to enable or disable sharing of their data.

In September, it discreetly updated its privacy policy to state that the data could be used to train Al models. Its ‘frequently asked questions’ hyperlink stated that opting out "does not affect training that has already taken place."

The users complained that LinkedIn attempted to "cover its tracks." It was fully aware of violating their privacy and promise to use data only to support and improve its platform to minimize public scrutiny and legal fallout.

The lawsuit was filed by customers who sent or received InMail messages, and whose private information was disclosed to third parties for AI training before 18 September.

They sought 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.

However, LinkedIn stated, "These are false claims with no merit."

The lawsuit was filed hours after US President Donald Trump announced a joint venture among Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, with a potential $500 billion investment to build AI infrastructure in the US.