It recently came to my attention that LinkedIn has a setting activated by default allowing it to “use my name, photo in social advertising.” Below is a screenshot of this setting in my LinkedIn profile.

A screenshot of Ross Dunn's LinkedIn settings showing the default setting which allows LinkedIn to use my name and photo in social advertising

First, I should state I understand this is a means of increasing social engagement and connection-making within LinkedIn. What I find problematic is LinkedIn’s flagrant disregard for our privacy by making such a setting default. If you feel the same way, here are the steps to disable this feature in your LinkedIn account, provided in graphical form:

LinkedIn Privacy Step 1: Under your name in the top right of your account click on “Settings”

A screenshot of the dropmenu on LinkedIn: click on "Settings" in the drop-down under your account name

LinkedIn Privacy Step 2: Click on “Account” on the resulting Account & Settings page.

A screenshot showing how to click on the "Account" tab in the resulting Profile Settings page.LinkedIn Privacy Step 3: Click on “Manage Social Advertising” in the “Account” tab you just enabled.

A screenshot showing the next step in the process: to click on "Manage Social Advertising" in the "Account" tab you just enabled.LinkedIn Privacy Step 4: The Last Step is to un-check the option “LinkedIn may use my name, photo in social advertising.” Then save the changes.

A screenshot instructing you to disable the option to allow LinkedIn to use your name and photo in social advertising

You are done! A special thanks goes out to Steve Woodruff for bringing this to our collective attention.

For more social media privacy tips and news here are some places to start:

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Increasing the bottom line online for businesses since 1997