Summary
LinkedIn is a social networking platform that allows you to connect with friends, colleagues, and businesses for professional purposes. The service can be used for free or you can sign up for a Premium account, which grants you access to more search criteria.
Breach History
Has there ever been a breach or data leak?
Date of last breach
June 2012
LinkedIn reportedly stated that 6.7 million credentials were taken. However, it was later shown that 170 million credentials, such as passwords and emails, were hacked by Russian cybercriminals.
Privacy Checklist
Is any kind of biometric data collected (health, heart, voice, etc.)?
Are you able to delete your data / the data collected about you?
Does it use cookies, telemetry, or third-party tracking scripts?
Is the privacy policy user-friendly (easy to understand)?
Does it have parental controls?
Does it use encryption to protect your data both in-transit and at-rest?
Does it get regular software and / or firmware updates?
Does it require you to create a strong password?
Is there a system in place for managing security vulnerabilities?
Does it have a privacy policy?
How Can It Snoop?
Does it have a camera or request / require access to a camera?
Does it have a microphone or request / require access to a microphone?
Does it track your location or request / require access to location data?
Account Requirements
Does it require an email address to use?
Does it require a phone number to use?
Does it require an address (home or office) to use?
Payment Options
Are you able to use a credit card as a payment option?
Are you able to use a cryptocurrency as a payment option?
Are you able to use PayPal as a payment option?
Are you able to use cash or gift cards as a payment option?
What Could Go Wrong?
Not much risk in using this service. LinkedIn does collect information from your profile as well as location data, but this is not used for much more than occasional advertisements.
How Does It Share Your Data?
LinkedIn may share personal information with third parties such as service providers and target users with ads based on that information. However, LinkedIn does not share personal data with third party advertisers.
Good Things
- Great for networking with people from your place of work and your industry.
Bad Things
- Very unfriendly privacy policy.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn is a service that allows you to connect with friends and businesses for professional purposes. There is not much risk in this service, but LinkedIn may use personal information to target you with ads. LinkedIn had a massive breach in the past years ago, but has been securely protecting their user's information more closely ever since.