Social network LinkedIn changed its privacy policy last week, allowing it by default to use its users’ personal data to train its artificial intelligence (AI).
A new setting has been added in Privacy Preferences called “Data for Generative AI Improvement”.
This option is enabled by default, and while disabling it stops new data from being shared, this action is not retroactive.
In an interview with the Washington Post, LinkedIn spokesperson Greg Snapper said the AI has already started training with user data, and that this would be irreversible.
He added that the data would 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 right, we can help a lot of people on a large scale,” he said.
For his part, a lawyer from the American foundation Electronic Frontier, Mario Trujillo, said he was dissatisfied with this response.
“If companies really want to give users a choice, they should present a clear choice to users with a yes or no question,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post.
LinkedIn, however, is not the only social media platform training its AI with user data.
Meta, for example, has been using what is shared publicly on its social networks to feed its artificial intelligence for years.
How to disable this option?
To opt out of data sharing that drives LinkedIn’s artificial intelligence, simply go to the Account Preferencesthen in the tab Data Privacy and uncheck the option Data for Improving Generative AI.
