LinkedIn to use member profiles for AI training

New Delhi: LinkedIn has announced that starting November 3, 2025, it will begin using member profiles, posts, resumes, and public activity to train its AI models. The change will be enabled by default, requiring users to actively opt out if they do not want their data included.

Users have expressed frustration over the default setting. LinkedIn allows members to opt out via the ‘data for generative AI improvement’ option in the ‘Data privacy’ section under ‘How LinkedIn uses your data’ in Settings. However, opting out only applies to data collected after the setting is changed, while data collected prior will remain in the AI training environment.

LinkedIn notes on its support page, “If you wish to object to our processing of your data or content for training generative AI models that do not generate content or for training other AI or machine learning models, you can submit an objection through LinkedIn Data Processing Objection form.”

The change will affect not only UK users but also members in the EU, EEA, Switzerland, Canada, and Hong Kong, whose profiles will be included in LinkedIn’s AI training.

Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, has framed the default inclusion as a matter of ‘legitimate interest’ under applicable data protection laws, allowing the setting to be enabled without prior consent. Users who wish to prevent their data from being used will need to actively adjust their settings.