Users of LinkedIn Premium face allegations of private message disclosure with third parties to develop artificial intelligence models according to a California federal court lawsuit. According to the lawsuit Michael O’Neill and Eladio Gonzalez filed Microsoft’s LinkedIn platform belongs to but released a privacy feature in August 2022 which implemented automatic participation in an AI training program without asking for user approval.
The complaint explains LinkedIn tried to hide their activities by updating its privacy terms to allow AI systems access to user data a month after the alleged data sharing occurred. Users who followed LinkedIn’s directions in their FAQ section learned they could stop future data sharing for AI but the platform maintained access to already shared information.
According to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs LinkedIn broke privacy regulations and contractual rules because it seeked “to cover its tracks” while trying to minimize public frustration. According to the lawsuit users should receive $1,000 each as per the US federal Stored Communications Act in addition to contractual breach compensation and California unfair competition law violation payoffs. 
LinkedIn responds to these baseless claims by insisting they are untrue. LinkedIn delivered a 2022 user notification to confirm AI data sharing operations did not activate in the UK nor the European Economic Area nor Switzerland.
As LinkedIn maintains over one billion users worldwide the platform earns its key revenue through Premium subscription plans that produced $1.7 billion in 2023. The continued deployment of AI features by the platform results in sustainable growth of premium subscriber numbers.
The results from this lawsuit will shape future standards regarding user privacy protections combined with corporate responsibilities related to artificial intelligence development.
