Microsoft-Owned LinkedIn Using People’s Data to Train Artificial Intelligence Models

The LinkedIn app displayed on a cellphone in London on Jan. 11, 2021. Edward Smith/Getty Images

Professional networking platform LinkedIn has confirmed that it automatically uses personal user data to train artificial intelligence (AI) models without first informing its members.

The California-headquartered company said in a Sept. 18 blog post that it has updated the privacy policy element of its terms of service to include language clarifying how it uses the information shared with it “to develop the products and services of LinkedIn and its affiliates, including by training AI models used for content generation (‘generative AI’) and through security and safety measures.”

The platform said that there is an opt-out setting for members when it comes to using their data for generative AI training.

LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, which has invested heavily in OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT. According to the FAQ section of the platform’s website, the AI models used to power generative AI features may be trained by LinkedIn or another provider, such as Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service.

The networking site said it uses generative AI for features such as its writing assistant and for suggesting posts or messages.

Personal data such as user posts, usage information, inputs and resulting outputs, language preferences, and any feedback they may provide is among the data processed and used to train AI, according to LinkedIn.

When LinkedIn trains generative AI models, it seeks to “minimize personal data in the data sets” used to train them, including by using privacy-enhancing technologies that redact or remove personal data from the training dataset, the company stated.

LinkedIn said the updates to its terms of service will go into effect on Nov. 20.

LinkedIn does not currently train content-generating AI models on data from members located in the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK, it added.

“If you live in these regions, we and our affiliates will not use your personal data or content on LinkedIn to train or fine-tune generative AI models for content creation without further notice,” the company stated.

Opting Out

LinkedIn users in other locations who wish to opt out of allowing the platform to use their data for AI training can visit the “data for generative AI improvement” member setting and set it to “off.”

According to LinkedIn, opting out means that the platform and its affiliates “won’t use your personal data or content on LinkedIn to train models going forward, but does not affect training that has already taken place.”

Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this month that it will resume training AI models using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram in the UK over the coming months.

That announcement was made after the company said it had paused training to address “regulatory feedback.”

According to Meta, it will use public information including posts, photos, captions, and comments from accounts of users over the age of 18 to train and improve its generative AI models. It said the content will not include private messages.

A smartphone displays Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiling the Meta logo, in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2021. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Meta said that users in the UK will soon receive in-app notifications regarding AI training, along with information on how they can access a form to object to their data being used to train generative AI models.

Privacy rights groups have criticized social media platforms for processing users’ data without their consent and have urged the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection watchdog, to take action.

In a statement, Mariano delli Santi, legal and policy officer at the UK-based Open Rights Group, said LinkedIn is the latest social media company found to be processing user data without first asking for consent.

“The opt-out model proves once again to be wholly inadequate to protect our rights: the public cannot be expected to monitor and chase every single online company that decides to use our data to train AI,” he stated.

The Epoch Times contacted a LinkedIn spokesperson for further comment but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.