LinkedIn violates data protection rules, uses 18 million email addresses without user consent

LinkedIn, the white-collar social network with over 500 million users has responded to an investigation which revealed the company violated data protection rules by using the email addresses of 18 million people to buy targeted ads on Facebook.

Following a complaint from a non-LinkedIn user, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) of Ireland conducted an audit into LinkedIn's processing of personal data.

The DPC's report, which doesn't say how it acquired the 18 million email addresses covered the first five months of 2018 (Jan-May) and concluded that LinkedIn Ireland, the data controller, used a hashed form of the email addresses to target Facebook users with ads trying to target the user to sign up to its service "with the absence of instruction from the data controller as is required" to stay GDPR compliant.

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"The complaint was ultimately amicably resolved," said the DPC, "with LinkedIn implementing a number of immediate actions to cease the processing of user data for the purposes that gave rise to the complaint."

LinkedIn has also been instructed to delete all personal data processed during the time of unlawful processing "with the absence of instruction from the data controller".

LinkedIn, along with other countries have now moved its data processing from Ireland to the USA in an effort to loosen the stranglehold GDPR places around it. It avoids processing user data under law that should not apply to them. LinkedIn will have international users who aren't EU citizens but prior to the move, would have their data processed in a European country.

The report also details particulars about the ongoing investigation it has into Facebook and how it handles facial recognition data, a type of data which has special requirements under GDPR because it records biometric data. Details of Yahoo's data breach and the interaction between Facebook and WhatsApp are included too.

IT Pro has approached LinkedIn for comment.

Connor Jones has been at the forefront of global cyber security news coverage for the past few years, breaking developments on major stories such as LockBit’s ransomware attack on Royal Mail International, and many others. He has also made sporadic appearances on the ITPro Podcast discussing topics from home desk setups all the way to hacking systems using prosthetic limbs. He has a master’s degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield, and has previously written for the likes of Red Bull Esports and UNILAD tech during his career that started in 2015.