Microsoft's LinkedIn Sued for Allegedly Sharing Private Messages for AI Training
LinkedIn, the business-focused social media platform owned by Microsoft, is facing a lawsuit from Premium customers alleging that the company disclosed their private messages to third parties for training generative AI models without their consent.
The proposed class action, filed on Tuesday night, claims that LinkedIn introduced a privacy setting in August 2024 that allowed users to enable or disable the sharing of their personal data. However, the lawsuit alleges that LinkedIn quietly updated its privacy policy in September 2024 to state that data could be used for AI training and that opting out "does not affect training that has already taken place."
The plaintiffs argue that this attempt to cover its tracks suggests that LinkedIn was aware it violated customers' privacy and made false promises about the use of their personal data to avoid public scrutiny and legal ramifications.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and violations of California's unfair competition law, as well as $1,000 per person for violations of the federal Stored Communications Act.
Microsoft has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The case is filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Case No. 25-00709).