Social network LinkedIn changed its privacy policy last week, potentially 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, this action is not retroactive.
In an interview with The Washington Post, LinkedIn spokesman Greg Snapper noted that the AI has already begun training on user data, and that this will be irreversible.
He adds that this data will be used “to help people around the world create economic opportunity” by creating tools to make it easier to find a job and learn a new skill, among other things.
“If we do this well, we can help a lot of people on a large scale,” he says.
For his part, Mario Trujillo, a lawyer for the US Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he was not satisfied with this response.
“If companies really want to give users a choice, they should give users a clear yes-or-no choice,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post.
However, LinkedIn is not the only social media platform that is training 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 AI-powered data sharing on LinkedIn, simply go to Account Preferencesthen in the tab Data Privacy Uncheck the option. Data to improve generative AI.
