The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has confirmed that LinkedIn, a professional social networking platform, has temporarily stopped processing U.K. users' data to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. This decision comes after privacy concerns were raised about the platform’s approach to utilizing user data.
Stephen Almond, the ICO's Executive Director of Regulatory Risk, praised LinkedIn’s decision, stating, “We are pleased that LinkedIn has reflected on the concerns we raised about its approach to training generative AI models with information relating to its U.K. users. We welcome LinkedIn's confirmation that it has suspended such model training pending further engagement with the ICO.”
The ICO has also expressed its intent to monitor companies like Microsoft and LinkedIn that offer generative AI services to ensure they implement adequate safeguards and protect the information rights of U.K. users.
This move follows LinkedIn’s admission that it had used user data to train AI models without obtaining explicit consent, part of a revised privacy policy that came into effect on September 18, 2024, as reported by 404 Media.
LinkedIn has since stated that it will not allow AI training on member data from the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the U.K. for the time being. “At this time, we are not enabling training for generative AI on member data from these regions and will not provide the setting to members in those regions until further notice,” the company said.
LinkedIn further explained that it strives to minimize personal data in its training data sets, using privacy-enhancing technologies to redact or remove personal data from the datasets.
While users outside Europe can opt out of this practice through their account settings under "Data privacy" and disable the "Data for Generative AI Improvement" option, opting out will only apply to future model training. It will not impact any data already used for AI training.
LinkedIn's decision to automatically opt in all users for AI model training has sparked comparisons with Meta, which recently acknowledged it had scraped non-private user data for AI training since 2007. Similarly, Zoom abandoned plans last August to use customer data for AI model training after facing public outcry regarding changes in its terms of service.
This situation highlights the increasing scrutiny surrounding AI and its reliance on user data for training. Concerns center on how personal information is utilized, particularly as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report detailing how major social media and video platforms have engaged in extensive user surveillance.
The FTC found that these platforms collect and retain large amounts of user data, often combining it with AI tools and third-party data brokers to build detailed consumer profiles. "Many companies engaged in broad data sharing that raises serious concerns regarding the adequacy of the companies' data handling controls and oversight," the FTC report stated. It also pointed out that some companies did not comply with users' data deletion requests, raising further concerns about privacy practices.
