LinkedIn faces lawsuit for reference report tool
12 November 2014
Business-orientated social networking platform LinkedIn is facing a class action lawsuit in the US over its reference report tool due to potential privacy violations, according to The New York Times.
Wed, 12 Nov 2014 | By Sarah Marquet
Business-orientated social networking platform LinkedIn is facing a class action lawsuit in the US over its reference report tool due to potential privacy violations, according to The New York Times.
Four people are bringing the Sweet v. LinkedIn lawsuit, filed in California, claiming the tool has cost them job opportunities.
The tool, available only to premium account holders regardless of which country they are in, allows prospective employers and recruiters to generate a list of their own connections who worked at the same company at the same time as the person in question, and therefore gather information on the person.
The four claimants say the tool allows prospective employers to make decisions about them without ensuring the information they gather is correct, a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
In a statement provided to Recruiter, a LinkedIn spokesperson said the company took member privacy “very seriously” and believed the legal claims were “without merit”.
The statement continues: “A reference search, which is only available to premium account holders, simply lets a searcher locate people in their network who have worked at the same company during the same time period as a member they would like to learn more about. A reference search does not reveal any of that member’s non-public information.”
LinkedIn added that it intends to fight the lawsuit “vigorously”.
Four people are bringing the Sweet v. LinkedIn lawsuit, filed in California, claiming the tool has cost them job opportunities.
The tool, available only to premium account holders regardless of which country they are in, allows prospective employers and recruiters to generate a list of their own connections who worked at the same company at the same time as the person in question, and therefore gather information on the person.
The four claimants say the tool allows prospective employers to make decisions about them without ensuring the information they gather is correct, a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
In a statement provided to Recruiter, a LinkedIn spokesperson said the company took member privacy “very seriously” and believed the legal claims were “without merit”.
The statement continues: “A reference search, which is only available to premium account holders, simply lets a searcher locate people in their network who have worked at the same company during the same time period as a member they would like to learn more about. A reference search does not reveal any of that member’s non-public information.”
LinkedIn added that it intends to fight the lawsuit “vigorously”.
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