The LinkedIn OptOut AI Scandal

You’re all opted in to something dodgy, here’s how you opt out

🥂 Congratulations! If you’re a LinkedIn user outside the EU, you’ve just been sneakily opted in… to letting LinkedIn clone your posts without crediting you.

Don’t like the sound of that? Here’s the one-click opt-out link: linkedin.com/mypreferences/d/settings/data-for-ai-improvement

Let’s call these opted-in-without-asking shenanigans LinkedIn OptOut for short. In my community on LinkedIn, most people are opting out as quickly as their fingers will let them, while a smattering is shrugging its indifference, and a few folks are staying opted in on purpose. One of you in this last group said you don’t want AI to be trained only on all the “drunk uncles” out there, so you are doing your bit for LinkedIn staying classy. 🤔

So let’s unpack what’s going on with LinkedIn OptOut and why it matters.

What happened?

Spoiler alert: I’ve put a few bangs (factorials!) in the next paragraph to highlight some of the salient points we’ll be chewing on shortly.

Thurs, Sep 19, 2024

If you had a (non-EU!) LinkedIn account yesterday then you were automatically opted in to allowing LinkedIn (and its…