Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is facing a lawsuit from its Premium subscribers, who claim the platform shared their private messages with third parties without consent to train generative AI models.
According to Reuters, the proposed class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday night in a federal court in San Jose, California. Plaintiffs allege that LinkedIn secretly introduced a privacy setting in August 2024, allowing users to manage the sharing of their personal data. However, the lawsuit claims LinkedIn subsequently updated its privacy policy on September 18, 2024, to permit the use of user data for AI training purposes.
A “Frequently Asked Questions” section linked in the policy update allegedly stated that opting out would not prevent data already collected from being used. Plaintiffs argue that the company deliberately concealed these changes, indicating an awareness that such actions violated user privacy while attempting to minimize public backlash.
The lawsuit represents LinkedIn Premium users who sent or received InMail messages before the September 18 policy change. It seeks damages for breach of contract and violations of California’s unfair competition law, in addition to $1,000 per person for breaches of the federal Stored Communications Act.
Microsoft has yet to comment on the legal action. The lawsuit follows the recent announcement of a $500 billion AI infrastructure project involving Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, raising further concerns about the ethical use of consumer data in AI development.
