FILE PHOTO: LinkedIn has announced an update to their Terms of Service starting November 4 under which user data will be shared to train their AI tools unless users have manually opted out of it.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
LinkedIn has announced an update to their Terms of Service starting November 4 under which user data will be shared to train their AI tools unless users have manually opted out of it. The platform also expanded the kinds of data that will be shared with Microsoft for ad personalisation.
“Starting November 3, 2025, we will share additional data about members in your region with our Affiliate Microsoft so that the Microsoft family of companies can show you more personalized and relevant ads. This data may include your LinkedIn profile data, feed activity data, and ad engagement data; it does not include any data that your settings do not allow LinkedIn to use for ad purposes,” a post explaining the changes stated.
Users can turn this off for themselves. But if they don’t, they will see more ads for Microsoft products across platforms based on their LinkedIn usage.
Notably, the networking platform will also return to training AI models on EU and UK user data. Last year, it clarified that EU users wouldn’t fall under this after regulators raised concerns.
“Starting on November 3, 2025, we’ll start to use some data from members in [EEA, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland and the U.K.] to train content-generating AI models that enhance your experience and better connect our members to opportunities. Our GenAI features can help hirers find and reach you more easily, and assist members in creating content such as profile updates, messages, and posts. This may include data like details from your profile, and public content you post on LinkedIn; it does not include your private messages,” the post said.
Last year in September it was reported that LinkedIn had been scraping user data quietly to train AI models without stating it explicitly in their privacy policy. After the news emerged, LinkedIn updated their terms to reflect the move.
Users can go to Settings on LinkedIn, go to the ‘User Privacy’ option and turn the toggle button off under ‘Data for Generative AI Improvement.’
Published – September 19, 2025 02:11 pm IST
