Is LinkedIn Safe?

If you use or plan to use LinkedIn, you need to know: Is LinkedIn safe? 

Below, we explain whether LinkedIn is: 

• Safe to use. 
• Good for privacy. 

We also look at some steps you can take to improve both your safety and privacy when using this social media platform.

What Is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that allows individuals and businesses to connect, share information, and build professional relationships. 

On LinkedIn, users can:

• Send and accept connection requests, expanding their professional network.
• Create detailed profiles showcasing their work experience, education, skills, and achievements, serving as a digital resume and helping others understand their professional background. 
• Share articles, updates, and multimedia content related to their industry to help professionals stay informed about trends and developments while showcasing their expertise.

LinkedIn also offers a job search feature where users can find and apply for job openings. Employers also use LinkedIn to post job listings and recruit candidates.

Businesses create company LinkedIn pages to share information about their products, services, and job openings. These pages also help companies engage with their audience and build their brand.

Is LinkedIn Safe?

Generally yes, but it depends on your definition of “safe.”

LinkedIn uses encryption to protect user data, offers two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to accounts, and regularly monitors accounts for suspicious activities, taking action against fake profiles and spam.

The security company UpGuard gives LinkedIn a score of 777 out of 950. 

Among the issues flagged are that LinkedIn: 

• Does not enforce HTTP Strict Transport Security.
• Does not use HttpOnly cookies.
• Is not found on the HSTS preload list.
• Does not use a valid Certification Authority Authorization record.
• Uses TLS 1.2 (which has weak cipher suites).

Over the years, LinkedIn has experienced several breaches. 

In 2012, a hacker stole the account information of 117 million LinkedIn users (the full extent of the hack only became apparent in 2016). 

In 2021, data from 700 million LinkedIn users (93% of its user base at the time) was posted for sale online. While LinkedIn stated that this was not a breach but rather data scraping from publicly available profiles, the data included sensitive information such as full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other personal details. 

A few months earlier, data from 500 million LinkedIn users was leaked in a similar way.

In 2023, LinkedIn experienced another significant security incident involving the unauthorized scraping of user data. This breach affected approximately 19.7 million LinkedIn accounts, exposing personal information such as email addresses, geographic locations, job titles, names, professional skills, and social media profiles. 

LinkedIn is also commonly impersonated in phishing campaigns. 

Is LinkedIn Private?

Again, depends on your definition of “private.”

LinkedIn is designed for professional networking, so complete privacy isn’t really built-in. However, it does offer a good range of privacy settings to help users control their information.

For example, users can:

• Choose who can see what information on their profiles (for example, contact details).
• Control whether to notify their network when they update their profile, make new connections, or follow companies.
• Prevent their LinkedIn profile from appearing in search engine results. 
• Download their data.
• Manage what services have access to their LinkedIn information. 
• Manage how their data is shared with third-party applications and services.
• Customize advertising preferences and opt out of personalized ads.

LinkedIn has a detailed privacy policy that outlines what data is collected and how it is used. 

Terms of Service; Didn’t Read (ToS;DR), a project that rates internet services’ terms of service and privacy policies, gives LinkedIn a “Grade E.” This means “The terms of service raise very serious concerns.”

Among the biggest concerns are that LinkedIn stores data on individuals who don’t interact with the service, users’ identities are shown in ads to other users, private messages can be read, specific content can be deleted without any notice or reason, and the LinkedIn app requires broad permissions.

How to Improve Your Safety and Privacy On LinkedIn

Follow the steps below for a more private and secure experience on LinkedIn. 

• Adjust profile visibility. Go to your settings and select “Edit your public profile.” Choose what details can be viewed publicly, or set your profile to be visible to connections only.
• Enable private mode. When viewing other profiles, use LinkedIn’s private mode to prevent them from knowing you visited their profile.
• Control connection requests. Only accept connection requests from people you know or can verify. Decline requests from unknown or suspicious profiles.
• Manage activity broadcasts. Go to “Settings & Privacy,” then “Visibility,” and adjust your activity broadcast settings to prevent your network from being notified when you update your profile, make new connections, or follow companies.
• Customize profile viewing options. Choose to browse in a private or semi-private mode where your industry and title are visible but not your name.
• Restrict email visibility. Under “Settings & Privacy,” go to “Visibilit” and then “Who can see your email address” to limit it to connections, no one, or specific groups.
• Review connected apps. Under “Settings & Privacy,” check “Permitted Services” to see which third-party apps have access to your LinkedIn data and remove any that are unnecessary.
• Share essential details only. Avoid including sensitive personal information such as your phone number, home address, or birth date on your profile.
• Opt-out of targeted ads. Under “Settings & Privacy,” navigate to “Advertising data” and adjust your preferences to limit the use of your data for advertising purposes.
• Control search engine visibility. Remove LinkedIn from Google search. Under “Settings & Privacy,” go to “Visibility” and then “Visibility of your LinkedIn activity” and turn off “Profile discovery using email address” and “Profile discovery using phone number.”
• Use strong passwords and 2FA. Ensure you have a strong, unique password for your LinkedIn account and enable 2FA for added security.
• Be cautious with public posts. Be mindful of what you post, like, and comment on, as these activities can be visible to your network and beyond.