back to article LinkedIn users rebel after personal data siphon crimped

LinkedIn has reversed a recent decision to make it harder for members to download information about those who've decided to connect with them on the business-centric social network. The company's original decision removed a facility that allowed users to more-or-less-instantly download a .CSV file of all their connections. The …

  1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

    Gullible people everywhere

    I automatically refuse any linkedin request from anyone I don't personally know, and instantly bin messages from anyone with "500+" connections, since they're clearly only going for the numbers. There's a practical limit to how many acquaintances anyone can manage, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

    1. Little Mouse

      Re: Gullible people everywhere

      Damn right - Me too.

      “Users on any internet platform should be aware that there are people who will occasionally misuse the online space”

      Who knew?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Gullible people everywhere

      I flag them as spam. The more people do that, the harder it'll be for them to deliver email spam. You could also nuke your account, if you have one (why??)

      I wonder if the recent report saying "spam is declining" included linkedin as such. I'm guessing not, else there'd be nothing to say.

  2. Sir Barry

    Fake Invites

    I've started getting connection requests which I find a bit strange.

    I don't have an account with LinkedIn or any social media site.

    I wonder how I've managed to become so popular....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fake Invites

      When I receive suspicious invites on Linkedin, I do the following:

      Check their connections

      See if I actually know the requestor (if not, they are immediately treated with suspicion),

      Then, if I have time, I will perform a google image search on the profile's photo. The results can be very enlightening. If I discover it is a harvested photo, I inform Linkedin, pronto. Impersonating people on Linkedin has become the new 419 scam engine.

  3. dan1980

    Linked-In also have (had?) aspirations to become a recruitment platform in its own right.

    Wanting to protect your users' personal information is great but I suspect that much of this is to do with other - competing - platforms using the system to get information.

    1. DrXym

      LinkedIn is already a recruitment platform. It started off as a "social" network but as soon as they built up enough connections they started selling premium services to firms who want to harvest that info.

      If you value your sanity, do not accept invites from recruitment agents. They do a search on "java" or some other common keyword and spam all their contacts with the job spec regardless of relevance. And of course all other agents with the same spec will spam it too. They can't help themselves. At least by not being linked they have to use up one of their precious in-mails if they want to communicate which cuts the noise down considerably.

      1. dan1980

        Gotta fill the top of that funnel!

  4. x3mxs
    Thumb Down

    I gave them the boot a long long time ago, when I realized that my info was distributed far and wide across the web.

    Dodgy practices, I don't want to have anything to do with them !

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Luckily, the LinkedIn Ts&Cs mean that they keep your details in perpetuity...so you might have given them the boot, but they haven't given up on you.

  5. Bob Vistakin
    Facepalm

    I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn

    And as a special thanks and indication of what we interpret the word "professional" to mean, please accept this free gift.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm confused, LinkedIn say - "... the data our members enter into LinkedIn is theirs and they should be able to export it."

    But from reading the article the data being exported is about connections with - "members to download information about those who've decided to connect with them on the business-centric social network"

    So LinkedIn's statement makes no sense as the data I enter is mine, but this is about downloading the data that other people have entered, which is by definition ... not mine. So why should I be able to export it at all!

    Makes me kinda glad I only have the profile on there i set up years ago with very limited information... and a password long lost to the river of time (as in I forgot it). We know that Google and Facebook harvest our data, I didn't realize linked in let others harvest it as well.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Megaphone

      Since you obviously give a damn, why not reset your password and delete your account?

  7. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "there are people who will occasionally misuse the online space"

    Wrong. There are many people who will continually misuse the online space, and there are enough of them that you should never take any message at face value.

    Thank God that all this is just for Internet activity. If I had to police my real life relations like I do my Internet communication I think I'd either go mad, ballistic or become a paranoid superspy.

    Possibly all three.

  8. Little Mouse

    "be aware that there are people who will occasionally misuse the online space"

    (.Y.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "be aware that there are people who will occasionally misuse the online space"

      "be aware that there are people who will occasionally misuse the online space"

      Easily done, it's right next to the "ANY" key.

  9. Eclectic Man Silver badge

    Oh!

    You mean I'm not connected with Pierre de Fermat, Jean Paul Sartre and Aristotle?

    Jaw drops in amazement.

  10. Mark 85

    24 hours too long?

    “since that change, we’ve heard you loud and clear -- that is too long to have to wait for a download of connection information.”

    I guess those whole complained are of the instant gratification crowd, or spammers, miscreats, etc. who want the information NOW!!!!! I shudder at the number of temper tantrums thrown.

  11. earl grey
    Joke

    missed headline opportunity

    Seriously, it was a "gimme"...

    LinkedIn Users Revolting

  12. Dr Scrum Master
    Unhappy

    LinkedOut

    LinkedIn have been mucking around with what is perhaps the last useful part of LinkedIn for me namely the groups. First it was duplicate e-mail digests with identical senders messing up my e-mail inbox, and now it's the new "What's new in your groups" digest which is a single e-mail with highlights of a tiny proportion of the discussions, which is next to useless.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like