LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer

Summary

LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your ComputerMicrosoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history.Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm.The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it.Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.This is illegal and potentially a criminal offense in every jurisdiction we have examined.(If you you’re in a hurry -> read our Executive Summary)Who we areFairlinked e.V. is an association of commercial LinkedIn users. We represent the professionals who use LinkedIn, the businesses that invest in and depend on the platform, and the toolmakers who build products for it.BrowserGate is our investigation and campaign to document one of the largest corporate espionage and data breach scandals in digital history, to inform the public and regulators, to collect evidence, and to raise funds for the legal proceedings required to stop it.What we foundMass breach of personal dataLinkedIn’s scan reveals the religious beliefs, political opinions, disabilities, and job search activity of identified individuals. LinkedIn scans for extensions that identify practicing Muslims, extensions that reveal political orientation, extensions built for neurodivergent users, and 509 job search tools that expose who is secretly looking for work on the very platform where their current employer can see their profile.Under EU law, this category of data is not regulated. It is prohibited. LinkedIn has no consent, no disclosure, and no legal basis. Its privacy policy does not mention any of this.Corpor...