Recently, LinkedIn announced a significant change regarding the use of personal data of the users of the app. The update in question concerns the interaction between the use of personal data and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems.
Starting from November 20, 2024, platform users will be able to choose whether to allow their personal data to be used for training Generative AI models, that is, AI systems that create content based on pre-existing data.
In general terms, LinkedIn’s new feature is called the "right to opt-out" and consists of the prerogative granted to the user to revoke consent of the use of its personal data for purposes of AI training, as of the date of the opt-out. In other words, if the user does not wish for AI to be trained with their data, they need to access a section of LinkedIn and disable the authorization, which will be enabled by default.
It is worth noting that the right to opt-out is an important tool for transparency, privacy, and user control regarding the use of their personal information and sensitive data in the digital economy environment, especially considering Generative AI, which has the capacity to analyze large volumes of data.
Although it is a significant update, it is essential to emphasize that the right to opt-out is limited to revoking the user’s consent for the future training of AI models. Thus, LinkedIn may continue to use data collected before the opt-out request to train Generative AI systems.
Furthermore, it is important to mention that this update does not apply to countries in the European Economic Area ("EEA"), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, since LinkedIn does not allow these users’ data to be used for training Generative AI models.
For more information on this subject, Cescon Barrieu’s Technology and Innovation team is at your disposal.
