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#data#linkedin#gdpr#profile#privacy#argument#article#visited#sell#premium

Discussion (68 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

menno-sh•about 3 hours ago
Oh I LOVE this, we can't have enough of these privacy-focused non-profits making tech companies' lives difficult. They have such a strong argument here, too. I can imagine that whoever came up with this is very pleased with theirselves, and rightfully so.
phasefactor•about 3 hours ago
Love it, the article referring to a statement by a LinkedIn spokesperson: "The first part of that statement is false, as you can see from the screenshot above. Given the obvious untrustworthiness of that half of the statement, we didn't bother wasting any time trying to evaluate the second part."
elsjaako•about 1 hour ago
To be technically correct: if even a single non-premium member can, for some reason, see who viewed their profile, then the statement "only Premium members can see who has viewed their profile" is false.

So technically, you can't say that the first part of the statement is false from the screenshot.

noutella•about 3 hours ago
They do say they won’t bother, but the rest of the article is actually precisely covering this second point, aka Article 15 of LK Privacy Policy
loloquwowndueo•about 2 hours ago
Rhetorical argument is rhetorical?
SAI_Peregrinus•about 1 hour ago
It's covering article 15 of the GDPR, not of LinkedIn's Privacy Policy.
SAI_Peregrinus•about 1 hour ago
Also, I just checked, and LinkedIn's privacy policy page doesn't contain any information about who viewed my profile in the last year. No usernames, no company names, it's just a generic privacy policy. So the data isn't there either.
duxup•about 2 hours ago
I'm not a fan of how LinkedIn operates ... or the culture there in general.

At the same time I wonder what happens when users realize everything they look at is now more visible than ever? People just make fake accounts for browsing?

Maybe it should be that way, but there's an interesting dynamic to "what you look at (even if not a full picture) is visible to some people".

rusk•about 2 hours ago
Like a reverse panopticon - a truly terrifying concept if you tease it out …
therobots927•23 minutes ago
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts further on this…
noname120•about 3 hours ago
This is the ludicrous part:

> LinkedIn rejected the request on the grounds that protecting that data took precedence.

Guess that implies that paying takes precedence on data protection

bee_rider•about 2 hours ago
I wonder if they will be able to make any argument along the lines of: we’re much more confident about the identities of paying customers so we think there’s less privacy risk in that case.

I think they should lose the case but I’m curious if anyone can think of a good argument for their side, at all (in the European context where there are data laws, “it’s their website they do what they want” is the conventional US perspective but I don’t really see what that leaves us to discuss).

jmkd•about 2 hours ago
They should give the data to people who ask, which will be a snapshot in time presented in a spreadsheet. Then what you are paying for is the interface that shows you who clicked yesterday with a thumbnail and a link to their profile, and who will click tomorrow, as long as you keep paying. But refusing the download option is not on.
strictnein•9 minutes ago
I don't quite get the "GDPR requires you to share with someone the personal details of people who happened to visit a webpage that you setup on a free website" angle here. I don't get how that's your data and not the data of the people who visited the page?

That seems to violate the GDPR more than the current state, no? If I accidentally click on your profile you're entitled to my name and employer and that's your data now? Makes no sense, other than from a "GDPR good, US tech bad!" angle, I guess.

tensegrist•18 minutes ago
isn't this also a thing on dating apps
codethief•2 minutes ago
I was going to raise this question here. Then again, the only thing you might get is an identifier of the person that swiped left/right on you. You won't really be able to do much with that, though, unless you reverse-engineer the dating site's API and invoke it directly to access dating profiles. …which apps might be able to prevent by using device attestation / Google SafetyNet etc. (You can't easily extract the auth key required for the API.)
dec0dedab0de•about 1 hour ago
Interesting, does that mean if you use google analytics you can demand the details google has about every user that hits your site?
codethief•6 minutes ago
No, because your site is not a person, so data related to it is not protected under GDPR.
scosman•about 3 hours ago
Not sure I follow the logic. The list of profiles I visit feels like it’s my data, not the owners of target profile. By that logic can I GDPR chrome for the browsing history of anyone who has visited my site? IANAL but I thought GDPR is about getting a copy of your data, not others.
Macha•about 3 hours ago
The problem for linkedin is they try to simultaneously claim that it’s the visitors data and therefore they can’t disclose it at the same time as claiming its linkedin’s data so they can sell access to it
zkmon•about 3 hours ago
Going by that logic, they shouldn't be selling your data to their premium users. Either way, LinkedIn is on the wrong footing.
nananana9•about 2 hours ago
They can spin it as "the list of profiles you visit is your data", this list they'll probably give you if requested, but in addition they're also willing to sell you others' data (the list of people who visit you).

Not precisely a nice way to put it, but it seems consistent to me.

luma•about 2 hours ago
It falls on its face as soon as they offer to sell that data to someone else, which is exactly what they're doing. Can't have it both ways.
Ravus•about 2 hours ago
"personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person" - GDPR article 4

Data often pertains to multiple people (trivial case: direct messages between two users); the rights of GDPR apply to your data, regardless of whether it also pertains to multiple others, subject to some restrictions to safeguard the rights of others. Those legal restrictions clearly don't apply because you could pay to obtain that access.

LinkedIn would need to prove in court that the list of users who visited your profile is not your data.

Additionally, your profile is undisputably your data. Per article 15 of the GDPR, you have a right to access "the recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organisations".

ajdude•about 3 hours ago
I think it's more like if you owned a blogspot site, and you're gdpr'ing the list of users who visited your site (given Google logged every single user who visited, and associated that visit specifically with you).

Linkedin is recording every person who visits your profile and keeps that in your user records, and they are already selling it back to you. The argument is that you have a right to that data.

Linkedin is arguing that this data needs to be protected for the privacy of those visiting your profile and the argument is that if they really believed that, they wouldn't sell it back to you, compromising that privacy anyway.

Hamuko•about 2 hours ago
If Google approached me and offered me Chrome Premium that allows me to see the identities of everyone who has visited my site, I feel like we wouldn't be having this discussion right now.
immanuwell•about 3 hours ago
Noyb basically built a logic trap linkedin can't squirm out of: either selling the visitor list to premium users is illegal or handing it over for free under article 15 is mandatory - pick one
Fokamul•about 2 hours ago
Linkedin, aka premium database for spear-phishing?

Linkedin is the best thing what happened for phishing since 4ever.

If you have a profile there, you're already lost. They gather your data and even network layout if you just open linkedin.

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krystalgamer•about 4 hours ago
don't see the issue, the data of who visited my profile belongs first to the visitor and to me iff i pay for it. seems pretty clear, no?
throw_a_grenade•about 4 hours ago
No, that's the point. If the data pertains to you, it's yours. No "iff I pay for it".
chasd00•about 3 hours ago
wouldn't that mean every piece of cctv footage that has me in it also belongs to me? i don't see it (no pun intended).
bee_rider•about 3 hours ago
I don’t think anyone has tested that in court. I wouldn’t be surprised if it should belong to you but fact that most CCTV footage is (or at least was) stored by small independent entities means that you aren’t aware that your CCTV data exists, or wouldn’t find it worthwhile to request it all.

It would be an interesting angle of attack against classic surveillance, though. If there are any vendors that store the video in some centralized system, so you can request it all at once.

But, I think there will be some hurdles, this case specifically relies on the fact that LinkedIn clearly doesn’t believe there’s any reason to keep this data private (they sell users access to it, after all).

cge•about 2 hours ago
That is true in the EU in a number of circumstances. You can do a data access request for CCTV footage of yourself; I’ve successfully done this before, and some organizations give out CCTV footage this way often enough they have websites about their procedures. For organizations I know of, they blur other people in the footage.
throw_a_grenade•about 2 hours ago
Yes, of course. In European cities there are GDPR disclosures hanged on the lampposts on which CCTV cameras are mounted. The disclosure contains retention period and contact to data processing inspector where you can request the data. You probably need to specify the timestamps and haw to recognise you.

In commercial buildings the disclosure may hang on the wall besides main entrance.

Everything as designed.

krystalgamer•about 2 hours ago
exactly, but it doesn’t pertain to you until you pay.

if we assume there’s a directional graph with edges labeled as “visited”. what linkedin is offering is to traverse it backwards for a fee.

what they’re demanding is ludicrous. pure entitlement that would have horrible ramifications for all social media platforms.

should a gdpr export include who has unliked/unreposted your posts too? it definitely pertains to you.

scronkfinkle•about 1 hour ago
"Pertains" is doing a lot of work in your argument, and you're using it wrong. The data about who viewed your profile pertains to you from the moment the visit happens. That's what that word means, so your first statement is false.

The other important detail is that LinkedIn already has processed this data that definitely pertains to you, whether you paid for it or not, and are trying to sell it to you. In fact, to quote the article, LinkedIn's argument for not giving it to the user is "on the grounds that protecting that data took precedence". LinkedIn isn't withholding viewer data to protect viewer privacy. We know this because they sell it. If the viewer's privacy interest were so compelling that it overrides your Article 15 right (which is what Noyb is referring to), it would also be compelling enough to prevent LinkedIn from selling that same data to Premium subscribers.

The argument being made for this specific feature (not the ones you added) is that you can't simultaneously claim the data is too privacy-sensitive to disclose under GDPR and then sell it as a product feature

throw_a_grenade•about 2 hours ago
> it doesn’t pertain to you until you pay

Respectfully, that's bollocks. The data, by itself, either does, or it does not. Exchange of unrelated money does not change anything in the data itself. IOW, it's the data that matters, not a wannabe-service that is pitched to the rightful owners.