Social network LinkedIn changed its privacy policy last week, hypothetically allowing it to use its users' personal data to train artificial intelligence (AI).
A new setting has been added to Privacy Preferences called “Data to improve generative AI.”
This option is enabled by default, and although turning it off stops new data from being shared, it is not retroactive.
In an interview with The Washington Post, LinkedIn spokesman Greg Snapper noted that the AI had already begun training on user data, and that this would be irreversible.
He adds that this data will be used “to help people around the world create economic opportunities” by creating tools to make it easier to find a job and learn a new skill, among other things.
“If we do it well, we can help a lot of people on a large scale,” he says.
For his part, the lawyer of the US Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mario Trujillo, said that he was not satisfied with this response.
“If companies really want to give users a choice, they should offer users a clear choice with a yes or no question,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post.
However, LinkedIn is not the only social media outlet that trains its AI using data from its users.
For example, Meta has been using what is shared publicly on its social networks to power its artificial intelligence for years.
How to disable this option?
To deactivate LinkedIn's AI-driven data sharing, simply go to Account preferencesthen in the tab Data privacy And uncheck the option Data to improve generative artificial intelligence.
