LinkedIn fined $335 million in EU for tracking ads privacy breaches
LinkedIn fined $335 million in EU for tracking ads privacy breaches
Bad news for LinkedIn in Europe where the Microsoft-owned social network has been reprimanded and fined €310 million for privacy violations related to its
The administrative penalties, which are worth around $335 million at current exchange rates, have been issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulator found a raft of breaches, including beaches to the lawfulness, fairness and transparency of its data processing in this area.
The GDPR requires that uses of people’s information have a proper legal basis. In this case, the justifications LinkedIn had relied upon to run its tracking ads business were found to be invalid. It also did not properly inform users about its uses of their information, per the DPC’s decision.
LinkedIn had sought to claim (variously) “consent”-, “legitimate interests”- and “contractual necessity”-based legal bases for processing people’s information — when obtained directly and/or from third parties — to track and profile its users for behavioral advertising. However, the DPC found none were valid. LinkedIn also failed to comply with the GDPR principles of transparency and fairness.
LinkedIn has some of the most obfuscated and complex ad targeting settings I've encountered. There needs to be a retirement to have a one click solution to disable ad personalization.
The button already exists and it's the install button on ublock origins page.
I think the problem goes deeper. Their page tracks everything you do and then sells that data to third parties. UBO only blocks ads and tracking.
The only way to prevent linkedin from selling data related to you is to not use their site at all.
There is in fact a requirement, and also that it's off by default.
I always wonder, how you can be fined hundreds of millions of dollars for breaking a law or multiple, but no one will go to prison. How is it not a serious crime to break peoples right to privacy and personal integrity on a massive scale like that.
If no one is jailed for doing it, it will never stopped they will just try to lobby to change the laws. They knowingly are breaking the law, but it's only fines so they don't give a shit, because they are also lobbying to change those laws...
What a bunch of idiots for politicians, they let these corporation walk all over our rights.
I always feel like the solution is to make this sort of thing unprofitable. Rather than just having a cost-of-doing-business fine, the company should have to forfeit all revenue generated by the illegal activity. The fine should then be assessed in addition to the revenue forfeiture, making it a real penalty rather than a wrist-slap.
Businesses operate on cost-benefit analyses and risk assessments. If violating the privacy regulation risks the loss of all revenue for the ad business, they won't do it.
Sure but when they actively decide to break the law and the rights of millions people, they are criminals or part of a criminal Enterprise and you should be on trail. The people in position of power, choose to break the law because of profit motivation, of course they shouldn't keep the money because it was made illegally.
Why would they care about the consequences of fines, when they themselves don't have to pay it, they can just cash out and not lose a cent, its the company that gets fined.
Fuck em, they should face several years of prison and lose the right to run a business or having a position of power, for gross violations of human rights and shouldn't be trusted to hold power.
What stops Nvidia, intel or whatever to build the same kind of privacy violating technology directly in the hardware. I don't even know how our phones are even allowed to collect all the data that they do, what are you going to do in the future when every piece of electronics you buy, is collecting data. You wouldn't even need internet, they'll just send it to the nearest 5g tower.
In 5 - 10 years, we'll live in the era of mass surveillance (for your safety of course). AI combined with all the data available, will make the world a living hell for regular people. 1984 will no longer be science fiction, because we elect self serving clowns, total morons that aren't capable of doing anything because they are starstruck by rich people and tech bros.
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/linkedin-statistics/
LinkedIn generated $15.7 billion revenue in 2023, an increase of 7.4% year-on-year
Ireland taketh with one hand.... and give back (and then some) with another BEPS tax dodging scheme.
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