A complaint indicated that LinkedIn disclosed the unauthorized sharing of user data when it revised its privacy policy in September.
A proposed class-action lawsuit against Microsoft’s LinkedIn, which alleged that the platform violated the privacy of millions of Premium subscribers by sharing their private messages to train generative AI, has been dismissed.
On Thursday, plaintiff Alessandro De La Torre filed a notice of dismissal without prejudice in a federal court in San Jose, California, just nine days after initiating the lawsuit, following LinkedIn’s assertion that the claims lacked merit.
De La Torre accused LinkedIn of breaching its commitment to use customer data solely for service enhancement by sharing users’ messages with third parties involved in AI development. The complaint stated that LinkedIn’s update in September revealed this unauthorized sharing and suggested that a newly introduced account setting intended to prevent data sharing would not impact prior AI training activities.
Eli Wade-Scott, managing partner at Edelson PC, which represented De La Torre, commented via email on Friday, stating, “LinkedIn’s late disclosures left users understandably worried and perplexed about the data used for AI training.” He added, “At least users can be reassured that LinkedIn has provided evidence indicating they did not use private messages for this purpose,” and expressed gratitude for LinkedIn’s professionalism.
In a LinkedIn update on Thursday, Sarah Wight, a lawyer and vice president at the company, confirmed that LinkedIn did not use customers’ private messages for AI training, stating, “We never did that.”
