In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in California, it is alleged that in August last year, LinkedIn secretly introduced a privacy setting allowing users to control the transfer of their personal data. And in September, LinkedIn quietly updated its privacy policy, stating that user data could be used to train artificial intelligence. The company also stated that opting out would not prevent already collected data from being used in training.
The plaintiffs claim that LinkedIn violated its privacy promises by deliberately hiding the changes to “avoid public backlash and legal consequences.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law. Additionally, the lawsuit demands $1,000 per person for each violation of federal law.
LinkedIn has denied the allegations, calling them “false” and “baseless.”
