LinkedIn is Training AI Models on User Data
This is not the first we’ve heard of a network training AI models on user data. Meta expanded their AI experience, collecting data from user’s content to develop AI models. While many UK/EU users are notified about these changes, many US users have already been guinea pigs for this training.
The good news is you can opt out of this option to stop LinkedIn (and Meta) from using your account data for future training. The bad news is any data that has already been pulled is done.
LinkedIn’s New Privacy Policy
The network updated its privacy policy after introducing the new privacy setting and opt-out form. In section 2, “How We Use Your Data” the policy states:
“We may use your personal data to improve, develop, and provide products and Services, develop and train artificial intelligence (AI) models, develop, provide, and personalize our Services, and gain insights with the help of AI, automated systems, and inferences so that our Services can be more relevant and useful to you and others.”
On a help page, LinkedIn answers questions about how LinkedIn uses personal data for generative AI, including:
- Use of generative AI (models used to create content) and other AI features
- Posts and article information
- LinkedIn user frequency
- Language preferences
- User feedback
This page also notes that LinkedIn is not currently training content-generating AI models for users in the EU, EEA, UK, Switzerland, or Hong Kong.
How to Opt-Out of LinkedIn’s Data Training
Users can opt out of LinkedIn’s data sharing for AI training in their account settings. On this page, click on Data privacy, which will show this page:
You can see that the Data for Generative AI Improvement section is turned on. By turning this off, you revoke LinkedIn from using your data for training content creation AI models.
However, this is one step of two for limiting data usage. LinkedIn has other machine-learning tools for personalization and moderation that don’t generate content. To limit this, users must fill out the LinkedIn Data Processing Objection Form here:
