LinkedIn, You Naughty Little Minx! LinkedIn is Harvesting Your Content for Gen AI - How to Turn This OFF! Daily Dose of Digital - 20/09/24

Trust is just a bit important in digital - especially when it comes to social media. Yet, recent revelations have many LinkedIn users, especially us creator folk, feeling a bit betrayed. Without much fanfare or any real transparency, LinkedIn has sneakily toggled on a new setting that allows them to use your content to train their Generative AI models. "Very very sneaky, sir!"

The worst part? They didn’t ask for permission – they just opted everyone in by default. It’s kind of like the time U2 dropped their album on every iPhone without asking, but maybe worse because it affects your business, personal brand, and trust. If this sounds a bit sneaky, that’s because it is!

Lea ?? Turner , one of LinkedIn’s shining stars and my favourite creators on here, called them out on this recently in a post that has since exploded with comments and outrage. She broke it down in a video saying, “LinkedIn have now started using all of our content to train their generative AI and they’re doing it automatically… but they’ve toggled it on automatically for everybody.” (See below for video of post).

The issue here is not just the sneaky opt-in, it’s about choice, trust, and ethics. In the age of GDPR (and everyone continually pooping their pants about data compliance risks), companies aren’t supposed to play these kinds of games.

Yet here we are. If you’re feeling uneasy about your content being used this way, you’re not alone! Fortunately, there’s something you can do to take back control. Read to the end of today's Daily Dose of Digital to find out how!

What Did LinkedIn Do?

LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, is using user-generated content across its platform to train its AI models. This isn’t just a LinkedIn decision - it ties into Microsoft’s bigger AI ambitions. Think Microsoft CoPilot and OpenAI, which powers ChatGPT. Microsoft wants to feed as much data as possible into its AI ecosystem to make its tools smarter.

But where’s the opt-in? Instead, LinkedIn quietly slipped this consent into its policy updates, leaving it to users to find out, mostly from posts like Lea’s, and figure out how to opt out.

As Lea explained: “They won’t be making this public, they don’t tell everybody… So it’s up to us, people like me, to let you know.”

At the time of writing, this opt-out feature is only available to users in the UK and North America. If you can’t find the setting, let LinkedIn know where you’re based, and keep an eye out for future updates. Anyone living in the EU, EEA or Switzerland will not have their data harvested. LinkedIn has not yet confirmed why it has spared the citizens of Europe, but it may be due to rules introduced under the new EU AI Act.

"Where LinkedIn trains generative AI models, we seek to minimise personal data in the data sets used to train the models, including by using privacy-enhancing technologies to redact or remove personal data from the training dataset," LinkedIn wrote in its terms and conditions , which were updated seven days ago.

It added: "As with most features on LinkedIn, when you engage with our platform we collect and use (or process) data about your use of the platform, including personal data. This could include your use of the generative AI (AI models used to create content) or other AI features, your posts and articles, how frequently you use LinkedIn, your language preference, and any feedback you may have provided to our teams."

LinkedIn and its owner, Microsoft, will not be the only organisations allowed to use personal data to train GenAI models.

"The artificial intelligence models that LinkedIn uses to power generative AI features may be trained by LinkedIn or another provider," the social network added. "For example, some of our models are provided by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service."

The Ethical Dilemma

Let’s pause for a moment to talk ethics. There's rarely an AI discussion that doesn't go there. There’s a reason GDPR was created - to give people control over their personal data. Opt-in mechanisms are a fundamental part of privacy law, particularly in Europe. So how does LinkedIn get away with automatically enrolling users into this AI experiment?

It seems LinkedIn is banking on user ignorance. The fact that this is automatically turned on is problematic, especially when creators and professionals are actively using the platform to build their brand and livelihood. Having your content harvested for AI training without explicit consent chips away at the trust many users have placed in the platform. And given that Microsoft is one of the biggest players in the AI space, this isn’t a small issue - it’s a significant breach of trust.

This isn’t just about LinkedIn anymore—this is Microsoft pulling strings behind the scenes, with an army of AI models to feed. But if you value your content, your brand, and your professional reputation, you might want to reconsider letting LinkedIn (and Microsoft) use your hard-earned content to fuel their AI ambitions.

Backlash in the LinkedIn Community

Unsurprisingly, Lea’s post has sparked outrage. The comments section is filled with people from the UK, the US, and beyond who are shocked and, quite frankly, pissed off. Users are voicing concerns about the lack of transparency, with many feeling like LinkedIn has crossed a line. Some are saying it’s one more reason they’re losing trust in tech giants and the platforms they rely on for their careers.

People are asking, “If LinkedIn does this without telling us, what else are they doing with our data?” And that’s a good question. Trust once broken is hard to repair.

As Lea Turner says: “I’m certainly not letting them use my content for this… Spread the word so people can stay informed.”

View Lea's original post below:

How to Opt-Out of LinkedIn’s AI Content Harvesting

If this whole scenario makes you uncomfortable, there is a way to opt out, and it’s pretty straightforward. Here’s how you can stop LinkedIn from using your content to train its AI models:

1. Go to Your Settings: Click on your profile photo in the top right corner of the LinkedIn homepage, then go to ‘Settings & Privacy.’
2. Navigate to Data Privacy: Once you’re in Settings, click on the ‘Data Privacy’ section in the left-hand menu.
3. Scroll Down to Generative AI Data: Find the section where it mentions Generative AI and LinkedIn using your data to train AI models.
4. Toggle It OFF: Turn off the option that allows LinkedIn to use your content for AI training. It’s sneaky, but you can undo it with a click.

Why This Matters

This is more than just about LinkedIn harvesting your content—this is about control. By opting out, you’re asserting your right to decide how your content gets used, and by whom. The fact that LinkedIn didn’t actively inform users is an even bigger red flag.

Microsoft’s AI ambitions through LinkedIn and its other platforms are huge, and this feels like just the beginning. When giant corporations blur the lines of consent, it’s a slippery slope. If we let this slide, what’s next? How else will our data be quietly siphoned off for uses we never explicitly agreed to?

The debate sparked by Lea’s post has highlighted how important transparency is, particularly when dealing with AI, and why it’s crucial to stay informed. The opt-out should have been an opt-in, plain and simple. But as LinkedIn seems to be quietly tiptoeing around transparency, it’s up to users like us to spread the word and protect our digital rights.

So, yeah, toggle that toggle to stop the Sneaky Sneakersons!

LinkedIn’s move to use your content for AI training, without actively asking for your consent, feels shady. It’s one thing to build great AI tools; it’s another to do it by silently harvesting user data.

As this story unfolds, it’s clear that creators, professionals, and marketers alike need to stay vigilant. If LinkedIn isn’t going to broadcast these changes, we need to. If you’re not comfortable with your content being used in this way, now is the time to act and turn it off. As Lea Turner says: “Spread the word so people can stay informed.”

If it so irks you, turn this off off, take control, and let your network know - before your content becomes fuel for AI you never signed up for. But if not, just crack on crackin' on.