Oh No! Is LinkedIn Stealing a Page From Facebook?

by | Aug 15, 2011

One of the biggest objections for many Facebook users is how the social media giant defaults privacy settings without telling you.

It appears LinkedIn has taken a page out of that book.

Ready For Your Closeup?

Did you know a default setting allows your name and photo to be used by third-party advertisers?

  • If you recommend someone
  • If you follow a company
  • Or you do some “other activity” associated with a company

If you’d rather not have the default setting that authorizes the sharing of your photo and name, you can change the setting.

Here’s the simple fix.

Please Stop Thinking For Me

Previous posts extended the plea for social media platforms to stop thinking for us.

  • We love options
  • We love control
  • We love making our own decisions

For me, this quote sums up the Facebook problem in a nutshell.

“Facebook uses the practice of opt-out privacy, while every other reputable business offers the option of opt-in.“

Danny Brown, Co-founder/Partner of Bonsai Interactive Marketing

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I am a big fan of LinkedIn – Facebook – not so much – primarily for that lack of disclosure.

I hope LinkedIn is not following the Facebook privacy guide book.

How about you? What do you think? Is it no big deal?

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BigStock Photo credit

Update

I just saw this update from LinkedIn on their blog about soial advertising.

12 Comments

  1. Nicky Parry

    Oh I know! I opted out of this last week. It’s a little disconcerting that LinkedIn took this route after all the negative publicity it brought FB. I wonder if they feel that even negative publicity is publicity…….

    Reply
  2. Cathy

    Hi Nicky: I sure hope they don’t go this route. But, sometimes the almighty $ blinds all us.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Reply
  3. Lisa

    Thanks for the tip off. I was going to create a Linkedin account this week. I will be careful and make sure to set my privacy settings.

    The Substantive Mom
    3girlsblogging.com

    Reply
  4. John Soares

    Cathy, I definitely support opt-in over opt-out.

    On LinkedIn I’ll choose the default settings because I want my name and face in front of the right people, including those people that are searching for the companies and people I’m associated with.

    Not everyone feels this way, of course.

    Reply
  5. Cathy

    Hi Lisa: I do like LinkedIn so a simple fix is geat. From their blog, it sounds like they got the message. Apparently, they did notify users, but obviously the method of communication didn’t work for everyone.

    Thanks for stopping by, Lisa.

    Reply
  6. Cathy

    Hi John: I’m with you-it’s all about choice. What’s right for me isn’t going to be for someone else so let us decide.

    Thanks for stopping by, John.

    Reply
  7. Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Cathy,

    Definitely an uncool practice, for both FB and LinkedIn.

    That being said, when we’re playing their ballgame, we play by their rules. The best we can do is spread awareness so people are informed as to how to opt out whenever they want to.

    Thanks for sharing with us.

    RB

    Reply
  8. Cathy

    Great point, Ryan, about it being their ballgame. Sometimes I think they forget their fans. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.

    Reply
  9. Lisa Kanarek

    Thanks for sharing this information. I’ll change my settings today. It’s sad that companies let profits dictate their actions.

    Reply
  10. Cathy

    Hi Lisa-I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for stopping by!

    Reply
  11. Pedro Cardoso

    I agree with what one of the commentators said: no worries, no regrets. I’m fine with my linked-in activity being broadcast to whomever cares to know, since that’s exactly the reason I’ve joined the network.

    To each his own, though! It’s good to know people are now allowed to opt out of this default setting, if they care about doing so.

    Reply
  12. Cathy

    Hi Pedro-thanks for sharing your view. I am all for choice. You like it, super, but I think we should have a choice and the social media platforms should be better communicators of the options.

    You’re right – to each his own. 🙂 Thanks again for stopping by.

    Reply

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