The UK data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has issued a warning to Microsoft. LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, has stopped processing data from its UK users to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. Here are the details…

LinkedIn stops processing UK users’ data for AI: Privacy concerns raised

The ICO had raised concerns that LinkedIn’s unauthorised use of user data for AI training could breach privacy rights, and LinkedIn has said it has temporarily stopped processing the data, following the warning.

The company said it no longer uses user data for AI training purposes in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and will not offer users in those regions the option to opt out of such processing, although such data processing processes still occur in other countries, such as the United States.

Data privacy debates have been on the rise recently. In particular, large technology companies are frequently criticized for using user data without their consent. Digital rights advocates such as Open Rights Group argue that simply offering an “opt-out” option is not enough, and that users must give their consent from the outset. Because it is very difficult for users to constantly monitor which company is using their data and how.

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