Consumer rights organisation Test Achats has filed a formal complaint to Belgium's data protection watchdog, over what it claims is an exploitation of personal user data by business-focused social media platform LinkedIn.
Owned by Microsoft, LinkedIn is a professional networking platform with more than one billion users globally, including over five million in Belgium. Test Achats stated that LinkedIn "very discreetly" modified its privacy policy in March of this year, and is "deliberately hiding from its users the exploitation of their personal data" to develop artificial intelligence tools.
The consumer rights organisation says that LinkedIn is assuming the right to use personal data such as photos, searches, publications and private messages to train its artificial intelligence, without asking for consent.
It added that users opposed to the change in policy are simply invited to close their account, or complete an opposition form which is "ineffective" as it says LinkedIn's help services do not respond to it.
Protections under EU law
Under the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), any change in the processing of personal data must be announced in a clear and transparent manner. A right of opposition must also be available to enable users to refuse the use of their data.
Test Achats has confirmed that it has filed a complaint with Belgium's Data Protection Authority, and said it "strongly encourages consumers to exercise their right to object by contacting the platform's help desk."
Jean-Philippe Ducart, manager and spokesperson for Test Achats, pointed out that Facebook owner Meta implemented a similar discreet change to its privacy policy earlier this year. When Test Achats filed a complaint to the Belgian Data Protection Authority in June, it resulted in a suspension of the policy less than a month later.
"After Meta, it is LinkedIn's turn to try to exploit our data without authorisation. We denounce this trend, and ask the Belgian Data Protection Authority to ensure increased monitoring of the policies of these platforms which, in this unprecedented context of development of artificial intelligence, do only what they want," he said.
Enhancing professional experiences
In response, a spokesperson for LinkedIn told The Brussels Times that the platform has long used data to enhance its members' professional experiences with AI driven features, which include people you may know, skills match and content relevance.
"Our members rightly expect us to share how we use the information they provide on LinkedIn and to keep that information secure and in their control. We do this today through our privacy policy, user agreement, responsible AI principles and privacy settings," they said.
