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Private data on LinkedIn becomes visible thanks to an additional function, but the business network is not to blame.
An “espresso listener” has a profile with information about her job on the LinkedIn business network. She has switched her private telephone number to “not public”. She is all the more astonished when she receives a call from a saleswoman on this number. The saleswoman explains to her that thanks to an additional function, she has access to all of the listener’s private data. A company offers this additional function. “I find it incredible that my private data is so easily accessible!” the listener gets upset and wonders whether LinkedIn is responsible for this.
I find it incredible that my private data is so easily accessible!
LinkedIn values privacy
LinkedIn emphasizes that it takes the privacy and security of its users’ data seriously and does not pass on any contact information. “We have received multiple reports of companies falsely claiming that they received LinkedIn members’ personal information, including phone numbers and email addresses, from LinkedIn,” a LinkedIn spokesman said. However, the information did not come from LinkedIn itself, but from third-party providers. LinkedIn would never pass on telephone numbers or other private data.
Data comparison with LinkedIn
These third-party providers also include the London-based company Cognism. Cognism collects data from various sources worldwide, such as telephone directories or from competitions where you once provided your private information such as email address or telephone number.
Thanks to an additional function – a so-called Chrome extension – that Cognism offers, this data becomes visible when you search for someone on LinkedIn, for example. “When used on LinkedIn, the Chrome extension combines the data available on an individual’s public LinkedIn profile with other data we have in our database that comes from other sources,” explains Cognism.
It is not only the responsibility of Cognism to respect privacy, but also of the companies using the platform.
companies have an obligation
Cognism claims to acquire the data legally. To be sure, one would have to be a data subject with a Request for information or deletion directly to Cognism, says Martin Steiger, a lawyer from Zurich who specializes in law in the digital space. The federal data protection officer doubles down: “It is not only the responsibility of Cognism to respect data protection, but also of the companies that use the platform. They must ensure that they do not use any data that was collected unlawfully.”
The “Espresso” listener contacted Cognism directly and requested that their data be deleted immediately, which Cognism did. When asked where Cognism got their data from, however, she received no answer.