Social networking site LinkedIn has been accused of unknowingly collecting data from Australian users to train its artificial intelligence “models” without users’ knowledge.
Creative media expert Dr James Birt criticised the tech giant for forcing users to opt out of a policy they didn’t even know existed, automatically setting their accounts to consent to the plundering of their profile data.
“This shows the dark side of big tech,” said the Bond University senior lecturer told news.com.au.
While users can opt out, the setting is enabled by default, raising concerns about informed consent.
“The lack of proactive opt-in is a classic example of how large tech companies are taking advantage of user indifference or lack of awareness to advance their AI initiatives.”
The setting, known as “Data to Improve Generative AI,” is automatically turned on for users outside the EU, EEA, UK, or Switzerland. It gives LinkedIn and unnamed “affiliates” permission to “use your personal data and the content you create… to train AI models for content creation.”
If you leave this option enabled, the app can share user activities with anonymous “partners” to “train AI models for content creation.”
LinkedIn has been criticized for automatically enabling a preference in the app that could allow user data to be plundered for use in its AI systems
‘Data for Generative AI Improvement’ must be manually disabled by anyone who uses the app and does not want their activity to be recorded by LinkedIn
This includes any messages someone posts or even the contents of a user’s profile.
If you disable this setting, LinkedIn will stop collecting data. However, data that was already collected while the setting was active will not be deleted.
LinkedIn isn’t the only mainstream app that scrapes users’ data for its own gain.
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, confirmed earlier this month that it has also been storing data on photos and posts from adult Australian users since 2007.
Meta made this confession when it Melinda Claybaugh, director of privacy policy, appeared before an investigation and said the company collected data when senators pressured her.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, confirmed in early September that it had been storing data on photos and messages from adult Australian users since 2007. Meta made the admission as its director of privacy policy, Melinda Claybaugh, appeared before an investigation
Regulations around this type of behavior have become stricter in Europe, with companies needing consent to store users’ data, but in other areas, such as Australia, this is not required.
Dr Birt said the decision to automatically require users to consent to such practices is an example of the ethical concerns surrounding storage of personal data.
LinkedIn indicates that it uses generative AI for “various purposes,” including the writing assistant that helps users compose messages.
Microsoft owns the platform and these AI models are on LinkedIn, but not on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI, which created ChatGPT.
LinkedIn Spokesperson Greg Snapper clarified that the app “did not send any data back to OpenAI for them to train their models.”
Leaving the setting enabled allows the app to share users’ activities with its unnamed “affiliates” for the purpose of “training AI models for content creation”
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to LinkedIn for comment.
To disable the feature in the app, users need to tap on their profile, go to settings, then to data privacy, and finally to “data for improvements in generative AI.”
From there the setting can be disabled.
When users click on ‘‘more information’ in the final phase, where the app explains how AI is used.
“This setting applies to the training and refining of generative AI models used to generate content (for example, suggested posts or messages) and does not apply to the development of AI models by LinkedIn or its partners that are used for other purposes, such as models used to personalize your LinkedIn experience or models used for security, trust, or anti-abuse purposes,” the message said.
On LinkedIn Frequently Asked Questions about Generative AI. The app claims that it will “attempt to minimize personal data in the datasets used to train the models.”