- The policy allows AI training; it does not describe an opt-out.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
They collect a wide professional profile, train AI on your data, show targeted ads, and keep some data after you close the account.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
- Uses your content for AI training with no opt-out
Collected
Account and profile info, posts, messages, device data, cookies, calendars, and data from others.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We log usage data when you visit or otherwise use our Services, including our sites, app and platform technology, such as when you view or click on content (e.g., learning video) or ads”
Training
They use it to run LinkedIn, personalize feeds and jobs, show ads, and train AI models.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“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”
Sharing
Members, visitors, recruiters, affiliates like Microsoft, advertisers, and service providers can see some of it.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Your profile is fully visible to all Members and customers of our Services. Subject to your settings, it can also be visible to others on or off of our Services”
Kept
They keep most data while your account is open and usually delete closed accounts within 30 days.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We generally delete closed account information within 30 days of account closure, except as noted below.”
Controls
You can edit your profile, use ad and message settings, request a copy, or close your account.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We provide many choices about the collection, use and sharing of your data, from deleting or correcting data you include in your profile and controlling the visibility of your posts to advertising opt-outs”
Fine print
Material policy changes get a notice; keeping using LinkedIn means you accept the new rules.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You acknowledge that your continued use of our Services after we publish or send a notice about our changes to this Privacy Policy means that the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to the updated Privacy Policy”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Review advertising and cookie settings
Member ad settings linked from the privacy policy (Visitors have a separate control page)
Edit or hide profile fields and posts
Your LinkedIn profile and visibility settings
Download or delete your data, or close the account
Account settings and the access/deletion choices described in section 4.2–4.3 of the privacy policy
Opt out of premium customers exporting limited profile fields
The opt-out described in the premium Services section of the privacy policy
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They say they can use your personal data to train AI. This policy does not describe a switch to turn that off.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“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”
For example, a post or job search you make could be used to train their AI tools.
They show ads aimed at you on LinkedIn and on other sites. You can limit some personalization but you still see ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We serve you tailored ads both on and off our Services. We offer you choices regarding personalized ads, but you cannot opt-out of seeing non-personalized ads.”
For example, looking at a job post could lead to similar ads on another website.
Public posts and some personal data can go to Microsoft and other LinkedIn companies for their products and ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“we may also share with our Affiliates, including Microsoft, your (1) publicly-shared content (such as your public LinkedIn posts) to provide or develop their services and (2) personal data to improve, provide or develop their advertising services.”
For example, a public post could be used to help Microsoft ads or other Microsoft services.
Other people can upload calendars or contacts that include you, so LinkedIn may get your details even if you never uploaded them.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you or others opt-in to sync email accounts with our Services, we will also collect “email header” information that we can associate with Member profiles.”
For example, a coworker syncing their calendar could send LinkedIn your meeting times and email.
Your phone can send location. They say they ask before using GPS-level location.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you use our Services from a mobile device, that device will send us data about your location based on your phone settings. We will ask you to opt-in before we use GPS or other tools to identify your precise location.”
For example, they might ask before using GPS to suggest people nearby at an event.
What you put on your profile can be widely visible, including to people who are not your connections.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Please do not post or add personal data to your profile that you would not want to be publicly available.”
For example, a photo or school you add could show up in search for visitors and recruiters.
Closing the account does not wipe everything. Some records stay for law, security, and disputes.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We retain your personal data even after you have closed your account if reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations (including law enforcement requests), meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, maintain security, prevent fraud and abuse”
For example, if they restricted your account for a rules issue, they may keep related records after you leave.
After you close the account, they say they usually delete most of it within 30 days.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We generally delete closed account information within 30 days of account closure, except as noted below.”
For example, if you close your account today, they say your profile should stop showing within a day and most data should be gone in about a month.
There is a way to stop some off-site cookie tracking used for ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You can opt out from our use of data from cookies and similar technologies that track your behavior on the sites of others for ad targeting and other ad-related purposes.”
For example, you can use their ad settings so visits to other sites are used less for LinkedIn ads.
They describe basic security like encrypted connections and watching for attacks, but they do not promise your data cannot be breached.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We implement security safeguards designed to protect your data, such as HTTPS. We regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks.”
For example, the site uses HTTPS, but they still say they cannot guarantee no one will ever access the data.
If they change the privacy rules and you keep using LinkedIn after they tell you, they treat that as you agreeing.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you object to any changes, you may close your account.You acknowledge that your continued use of our Services after we publish or send a notice about our changes to this Privacy Policy means that the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to the updated Privacy Policy”
For example, if they add a new data use and you log in after the notice, they apply the new policy.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- opt out
- Something is on by default and stays on until you find the setting and turn it off. For example, your chats may be used for training unless you go into settings and switch it off.
- targeted advertising
- Ads chosen for you based on what you have done across other apps and websites, not just this one. For example, you look at shoes in one app and see shoe ads in a totally different app the next day.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- opt in
- Something is off until you actively say yes to it. For example, marketing emails that only start after you tick a box are opt in.
- precise geolocation
- Your exact position, usually from GPS, often accurate to within a few metres. For example, an app can tell not just your city but which building you are in right now.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
How we got here · grade D · score 35/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 7 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and posts: usage logs, cookies, device IDs, referral URLs, calendars and contacts from you or others, partner and Microsoft data, and precise location if you opt in.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
They say they may use personal data to develop and train AI models. This policy does not describe a way to turn that off.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They run tailored ads on and off LinkedIn using cookies, pixels, partners, and inferences, and they share hashed IDs or device identifiers with ad providers.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share with affiliates including Microsoft, premium customers (with an opt-out for some exports), and service providers. They say they do not share personal data with unaffiliated advertisers except hashed IDs, visible profile data, or with permission.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
Not stated in the documents.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can delete data and close your account. They say closed-account information is generally deleted within 30 days, with some legal and security exceptions.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Your professional profile is the lasting record, and they say you can edit, hide, or delete much of it in settings. They also make inferences such as age and gender.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They describe HTTPS and monitoring for attacks, and they say they cannot guarantee data will never be breached.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Not stated in the documents.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
They say they will notice material changes, and that keeping using the service after that notice means the new privacy policy applies. The copy we read has no effective date.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
Not stated in the documents.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Not stated in the documents.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Not stated in the documents.
The privacy policy is 6,540 words at a college graduate level (Flesch reading ease 39.3); the terms are 3,893 words at a professional or legal expert level.
