LinkedIn Apologizes For Trying To Connect Everyone In Real Life (vocativ.com)

LinkedIn has apologized for a vague new update that told some iPhone users its app would begin sharing their data with nearby users without further explanation. From a report: The update prompted outrage on Twitter after cybersecurity expert Rik Ferguson received a strange alert when he opened the resume app to read a new message: "LinkedIn would like to make data available to nearby Bluetooth devices even when you're not using the app." That gave Ferguson, vice president of research at the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, a handful of concerns, he told Vocativ. Among them: "the lack of specificity, which data, when, under what conditions, to which devices, why does it need to happen when I'm not using the app, what are the benefits to me, where is the feature announcement and explanation, why wasn't it listed in the app update details." Reached for comment, LinkedIn said it's a mistake -- that some iPhone users were accidentally subject to undeveloped test feature the company is still working on.

Comments

It was a mistake

[thegarbz]

you found out about this horrible feature before we officially released it.

Re:It was a mistake

[zifn4b]

You found out about this horrible feature before you clicked through the EULA without reading it.

You don't need to read a EULA to understand that social networking is a huge risk to privacy. LinkedIn, in particular, wants your details as transparent as possible because of who pays their bills. That's precisely what they want. They want to know if you're too smart to figure them out or just smart enough to work for them without asking too many questions and to be a good, little subservient drone.

I like the idea

[110010001000]

I could use this to beg for a job from thought-leaders who happen to be nearby. Then I could move out of my Mom's basement.

Re:I like the idea

[110010001000]

Dude, its LinkedIn. Everyone is a "thought-leader" on there. It means they spend time spouting bullshit instead of actually working.

Re:I like the idea

[__aaclcg7560]

Are you creimer?

I AM CREIMER!

Re:I like the idea

[__aaclcg7560]

What's a "thought-leader"?

Influencer.

Individuals who have the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, position, or relationship. In consumer spending, members of a peer group or reference group act as influencers. In business to business (organizational) buying, internal employees (engineers, managers, purchasers) or external consultants act as influencers.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/influencers.html

NEXT!

[Frosty Piss]

Does anyone still take LinkedIn seriously? It's just marketing guys thses days, right? If someone looking for work with my team forwarded their LinkedIn page as a serious part of their resume, I would write them off as morons.

Re:NEXT!

[__aaclcg7560]

All I've ever gotten from Indeed is spam. I've been hearing their radio campaign a lot lately too. As near as I can figure, Indeed is full of fake jobs and pushy ads for Uber and Lyft.

The trick with Indeed is to watch for when a new job position gets posted and call that recruiter immediately. If you're one the first callers in 15 minutes of the posting, you're very likely to get an interview immediately.

sounds like a good reason

[FudRucker]

to not trust any social media website with your personal information (are you listening facebook zombies?)

Re:What??

[DogDude]

I remember when it was about business.

It hasn't changed. It was always about their business, and it still is. The business is: you give them information, and then they sell it.

Re:Let's not go to far with this...

[__aaclcg7560]

With 800+ recruiter connections over a 20+ year career and still paid $50,000 [...]

That's $50K+, not $50K. I'm not a programmer, computer engineer or software artitecht. I've done software testing, help desk/desktop support, PC refresh projects, built out a data center, equipped 300+ laptops for 11ac rollout testing, and, currently, doing InfoSec for government IT. If you need a miracle worker, want the job done right the first time and clean up after the last guy who did it wrong, I'm your guy.

[...] creimer is a big fat talkative turd.

Wrong! I'm an asshole. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in IT support.

Re:Let's not go to far with this...

[__aaclcg7560]

You've "talked" to about two recruiters per month over the last 20 years.

These days I typically get 20+ emails and phone calls from recruiters. I'm not even do an active job search. An active job search would be on phone and email for eight hours straight each day (including weekends and holidays).

What did you talk about?

Whatever positions they're offering at the moment, if I know of anyone else who would qualify, or what other recruiters are looking for in the marketplace (I don't mind trading info but I detest being pumped for information and will ban recruiters/companies).

How full of shit you are?

My shit is quite normal and regular. Thank you for asking.

Re:What??

[freeze128]

I remember when there was NO LinkedIn. It hasn't really improved job seeking too much - You still need a resume.

Nothing new

[93 Escort Wagon]

This isn't the first time LinkedIn did something shady via their iPhone app. Frankly, I'm not sure why anyone would still trust them enough to install it.

Bad security practices and double standards

[ukoda]

My current pet peeve with LinkedIn is the weekly requests for access to my email contact list. Would you employ someone to work with technology who gave out their email password just to share their contact list? I emailed them to complain that if I didn't compromise my security the first time they asked why do they keep on asking? They bounced my email because they couldn't do a reverse lookup on my email server. Apparently a SPF record is not good enough for them, I need to have enough money to be able to pay for service that will allow reverse lookup. A real double standard considering they want access to my contact list.

While I am complaining, I am really tempted to bounce any incoming emails with a noreply reply address. Is anyone doing that yet? If I am prepared to accept their email I think it is only reasonable they should be prepared to accept my reply.

Re: What??

[Type44Q]

Doctor, huh.