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Our Privacy Policy has been updated; click here for a summary of the changes.
LinkedIn Privacy Policy Highlights
This page summarizes the key highlights from our privacy policy. For more information, read our full privacy policy.
Personal information collected
We collect information:
When you register an account to become a LinkedIn user, such as your name, e-mail, country, location, occupation and a password. When you add to your profile with further information about yourself or your private contacts We use cookies and other technologies to recognize you, customize your experience and serve advertisements. We automatically receive from your internet use such information as your IP address, the URL’s of sites from which you link to or leave our website, your type of browser and ISP.
Uses of personal information
We use the information you provide to:
Administer your account with us and customize the service we provide to you. To send you service or promotional communications through email and notices on this website. We will never sell, rent or otherwise provide your personal identifiable information to any third parties for marketing purposes. We provide you with the means to control whether or not your contact information is shared with another user. In order to deliver our services, we may share information with third parties, such as the credit card company we use, to process subscription payments made by you. Enable you to share your information and communicate with other users, or provide (at your choice) your personal details to partners offering combined services with LinkedIn.
Your information choices
You can:
Review, enhance or edit your personal information through your personal profile page. Choose what information you make available through your public profile. Control the messages you receive from LinkedIn and other users and how these are sent. Tell us to close your LinkedIn account.
Important information
LinkedIn is a licensee of TRUSTe, an organization established to promote fair information practices. We have agreed to disclose our privacy practices and have them reviewed by TRUSTe. If we cannot resolve your privacy queries you can raise your complaint with TRUSTe. Notice of all changes that materially affect ways in which your personal information may be used or shared will be posted in updates to our Privacy Policy.
Security
Personal information you provide will be secured with industry standards and technology.
How to contact us
If you have any questions or comments please email us at privacy@linkedin.com or contact us at:
LinkedIn Corporation
Attn.: Privacy policy issues
2029 Stierlin Court
Mountain View, CA 94043
LinkedIn Privacy Policy
Your privacy is our top concern. We work hard to earn and keep your trust, so we adhere to the following principles to protect your privacy:
We will never rent or sell your personally identifiable information to third parties for marketing purposes. We will never share your contact information with another user without your consent. Any personally identifiable information that you provide will be secured with all industry standard protocols and technology.
Notice of all changes that materially affect ways in which your personally identifiable data may be used or shared will be posted in updates to our Privacy Policy. If you continue to use the LinkedIn service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices.
Please read this privacy policy to learn more about:
What personally identifiable information of yours is collected by LinkedIn. How the information is used. With whom the information may be shared. How you can access and change your Account information. What security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information collected by LinkedIn. How to contact us.
Personal Information Collected
We collect your personal information in the following ways:
Registration
In order to become a LinkedIn user, you must first create an account on this web site. To create an account you are required to provide the following contact information: name, email address, country, ZIP/postal code, a brief summary of your professional background (current occupation & networking objectives), and a password chosen by you.
Profile Information
Once a user, you may provide additional information in the Profile section describing your skills, professional experiences, and networking objectives. Providing additional information beyond what is required at registration is entirely optional, but enables you to better identify yourself and find new opportunities in the LinkedIn system. To the extent any of the information you provide at registration or in the Profile section is not personally identifiable, it may be used in the same manner and extent which other information that is not personally identifiable is permitted to be used hereunder, including, without limitation, for the purpose of serving advertisements through the service. If you opt-out you may lose the potential benefit of receiving ads that are more targeted to your interests.
Contacts Information
In order to invite others to connect with you directly in LinkedIn, you will enter their names and email addresses. This information will be used by LinkedIn to send your invitation including a message that you write. The names and email addresses of people that you invite will be used only to send your invitation and reminders.
You may also choose to manually enter or upload data about your contacts into the private “My contacts” section of our website. All information entered there will only be viewable by you and will not be searchable by others in the LinkedIn network without your permission. All information that you enter or upload about your contacts will be covered by the same terms of this privacy policy as cover your own personally identifiable information.
Cookies
Like most web sites, LinkedIn uses cookies and web log files to track site usage. A cookie is a tiny data file which resides on your computer which allows LinkedIn to recognize you as a user when you return to our site using the same computer and web browser. Unfortunately, if your browser settings do not allow cookies, you will not be able to use our website. Like the information you enter at registration or in your Profile, cookie and log file data is used to customize your experience on the web site.
One type of cookie, known as a “persistent” cookie, is set once you’ve logged in to your LinkedIn account. The next time you visit the LinkedIn web site, the persistent cookie will allow us to recognize you as an existing user so you will not need to log in before using the service. In order to access or change any of your private information (like a credit card number), however, you must log in securely again with your password even if your computer contains your persistent cookie.
Additionally, if you log out of the LinkedIn site you will need to re-enter your password the next time you visit in order to log in to your account. Another type of cookie, called a “session” cookie, is used to identify a particular visit to the LinkedIn site. Session cookies expire after a short time or when you close your web browser.
We use cookies to improve the quality of our service by storing user preferences and tracking user trends. In the course of serving advertisements or optimizing services to our users, we may allow authorized third parties to place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Any information provided to third parties through such cookies will not be personally identifiable but may provide general segment information, e.g. your industry or geographic location, for greater customization of your user experience, Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Unfortunately, if your browser settings do not allow cookies or you opt to refuse all cookies, you may not be able to use our website or services. LinkedIn does not store personally identifiable information in the cookies.
Web Beacons
We allow other companies, called ad networks, to serve advertisements to LinkedIn users. Ad networks include third party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms. LinkedIn may “target” some ads to users that fit a certain general profile — for example, “product managers in Texas.” LinkedIn does NOT use personally identifiable information to target ads.
To deliver these ads properly, LinkedIn may include a file, called a web beacon, from these ad networks within pages served by LinkedIn so the networks may provide anonymized, aggregated auditing, research and reporting for advertisers as well as to target ads to you while you visit other websites.
Because your web browser must request these advertisements and web beacons from the ad network’s servers, these companies can view, edit or set their own cookies, just as if you had requested a web page from their site.
These general targets may also be used by ad networks to display targeted ads on other websites as a substitute for random, irrelevant ads. LinkedIn never provides personally identifiable information to any advertiser nor any third party.
You may opt-out of use of Web beacons in LinkedIn pages that you view and of placement of a cookie by ad networks in your browser. To opt-out click here and go to the “Advertising” section at the bottom and change the setting there to “No”. If you opt-out you may lose the potential benefit of receiving ads that are more targeted to your interests.
Log files, IP addresses and information about your computer
Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when you visit the LinkedIn web site we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave LinkedIn. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, email patterns, as well as the name of your ISP. This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the LinkedIn service. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is never shared with third-parties without your permission or except when required by law.
Uses of personal information
LinkedIn is an online service dedicated to helping all types of professionals more effectively connect with one another. The personally identifiable information you choose to provide on this site is used to help you describe yourself to other users. Other information, that does not personally identify you as an individual, is collected by LinkedIn Corporation from LinkedIn users(such as, by way of example, patterns of utilization) and is exclusively owned by LinkedIn. This information can be utilized by LinkedIn in such manner as LinkedIn, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.
LinkedIn Communications
LinkedIn will communicate with you through email and notices posted on this website or through any other means available through the service, including text and other forms of messaging. If we send any communications to you via the carrier service with which you have a mobile communications subscription or otherwise have access, you understand you will pay any service fees associated with any such access (including text messaging charges to messages your mobile device). These include a series of up to five welcome emails which help inform new users about various features of the service. Please be aware that you will always receive certain emails from LinkedIn related to the proper functioning of your account, such as email notices when another user in your network sends you an opportunity. LinkedIn may send you promotional information unless you have opted out of receiving such information. You can change your e-mail and contact preferences at any time by logging into your ‘Account & Settings’ and amending your email notification choices. If you wish, you can also opt-out of receiving promotional emails, by sending a request to customer_service@linkedin.com.
Customized Content:
Information you provide at registration or in your Profile section is also used to customize your experience on the web site. For example, when you login to your account we will display the screen names of new users who have recently joined your network.
Sharing Information With Third Parties
LinkedIn takes the privacy of our users very seriously. We will never sell, rent, or otherwise provide your personally identifiable information to any third parties for marketing purposes. We will only share your personally identifiable with third parties to carry out your instructions and to provide specific services or information. For instance, we use a credit card processing company to bill users for subscription fees. These third parties do not retain, share, or store any personally identifiable information except to provide these services and are bound by strict confidentiality agreements which limit their use of such information.
LinkedIn offers a “public profile” feature which allows users to publish portions of their LinkedIn profile, including your “name”, but not your “email address” to the public Internet. Users may opt-out of this feature by editing their account and settings account and settings, however LinkedIn does not warrant how third-party search engines will update their cache.
We may provide aggregated anonymous data about the usage of our services to third-parties for such purposes as we deem, in our sole discretion, to be appropriate, including, without limitation, to prospective advertisers on LinkedIn. We may segment our users by role (i.e. product managers, vice presidents), industry, geographic location, or company. If you would like to be excluded from the aggregated research or products based upon aggregated data about our users’ activities on the site, please email customer_service@linkedin.com.
Partnering with Other Organizations to Offer Combined and Other Services
LinkedIn may offer our services in connection with other web sites (including updates about the LinkedIn service) or may partner with other online services to give you the combined results of both services or additional services and benefits. For example we partner with SimplyHired.com to let you use their services to find jobs and then to use LinkedIn to find trusted referrals to those jobs. Whenever we offer such services, it will be your choice to make use of the services or not. In these cases, your personally identifiable information will only be passed from LinkedIn to the partner, or vice versa, if you choose to use the service.
Surveys and Polls
As a member of LinkedIn you will receive requests to participate in market research including polls and surveys submitted by other LinkedIn members. If you participate in surveys and polls offered through the service, the information you provide may be visible to others using the service. You may opt-out of participating by changing your Account & Settings to stop receiving these inquiries and requests.
Testimonials and Advertisement Placed through LinkedIn DirectAds Service
If you provide any testimonials about the LinkedIn service or place advertisements through the LinkedIn DirectAds services, we may post those testimonials and examples of advertisements you place in connection with LinkedIn’s promotion of its service to third parties, which testimonials and advertisements may include your name and other personal information that you have provided. For more information about DirectAds please see the DirectAds Terms of Use.
Communications to other Users
Many emails you initiate through LinkedIn, an invitation sent to a non-user for instance, will list your email address and name in the header of the message. Emails you initiate may also provide aggregate information about your network (for instance how many people are in your network), but will never list the people to whom you’re directly connected. Other communications that you initiate through the LinkedIn website, like a request for contact, will list your name as the initiator but will not include your personal contact information. Your contact information will only be shared with another user if both of you have indicated that you would like to establish contact with each other.
Legal Disclaimer
It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information when required by law. We will disclose such information wherein we have a good-faith belief that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on our company or to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
Disclosures to others:
We may also disclose your personal and other information you provide, to another third party as part of a reorganization or a sale of the assets of a LinkedIn corporation division or company and only after taking steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected. Any third party to which we transfer or sell LinkedIn’s assets will have the right to continue to use the personal and other information that you provide to us.
Your Information Choices
Accessing and Changing Your Account Information
You can review the personal information you provided us and make any desired changes to the information you publish, or to the settings for your LinkedIn account including your email, and contact preferences, at any time by logging in to your account on the LinkedIn website. Please be aware that even after your request for a change is processed, LinkedIn may for a time retain residual information about you in its backup and/or archival copies of its database.
You can also close your account through the LinkedIn website. If you close your LinkedIn account, we will remove your name and other personally identifiable information from our publicly viewable data. We may retain certain data contributed by you if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data, account recovery, or if required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the terms of the LinkedIn Privacy Policy in effect at the time of your request. To request that we close your account and remove your information from the LinkedIn service, please send your request to customer_service@linkedin.com. Please send your request using an email account that you have registered with LinkedIn under your name. You will receive a response to requests sent to customer_service@linkedin.com within three business days of our receiving it.
Important Information
Children
Children are not eligible to use our service and we ask that minors (under the age of 18) do not submit any personal information to us or use the service.
TRUSTe
LinkedIn is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the site www.linkedin.com. Because we want to demonstrate our commitment to our users’ privacy, we have agreed to disclose our privacy practices and have them reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.
If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact LinkedIn by email at privacy@linkedin.com. SIf you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or it is not satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe through the TRUSTe Watchdog Dispute Resolution Process (http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php). TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with the Web site to resolve users concerns. However, please understand that the TRUSTe program only covers information collected through the Web site, and does not cover information that may be collected through software downloaded from the site.
We participate in the EU Safe Harbor Privacy Framework as set forth by the United States Department of Commerce. As part of our participation in the safe harbor, we have agreed to TRUSTe dispute resolution for disputes relating to our compliance with the Safe Harbor Privacy Framework. If you have any complaints regarding our compliance with the Safe Harbor you should first contact us.
If contacting us does not resolve your complaint, you may raise your complaint with TRUSTe by Internet at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php, fax at 415-520-3420, or mail at WatchDog Complaints, TRUSTe, 685 Market Street, Suite 270, San Francisco, CA, USA 94105.
If you are faxing or mailing TRUSTe to lodge a complaint, you must include the following information: the name of company, the alleged privacy violation, your contact information, and whether you would like the particulars of your complaint shared with the company. For information about TRUSTe or the operation of TRUSTe’s dispute resolution process, seehttp://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php or request this information from TRUSTe at any of the addresses listed above. The TRUSTe dispute resolution process shall be conducted in English.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
LinkedIn may update this privacy policy. In the event there are significant changes in the way we treat your personally identifiable information, we will display a notice on this site. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.
If you continue to use the LinkedIn service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices.
Security
In order to secure your personal information, access to your data on LinkedIn is password-protected, and sensitive data (such as credit card information) is protected by SSL encryption when it is exchanged between your web browser and our web site. To protect any data you store on our servers we also regularly audit our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks and we use a tier-one secured-access data center. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information.
How to contact us
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please email us at privacy@linkedin.com or contact us at:
LinkedIn Corporation
Attn: Privacy Policy Issues
2029 Stierlin Court
Mountain View, CA 94043
