Vendor Tracks LinkedIn Profile Changes To Alert Client Employers (techtarget.com)

dcblogs shares a report from TechTarget: IT managers have long had the ability and right to monitor employee behavior on internal networks. Now, HR managers are getting similar capabilities thanks to cloud-based services -- but for tracking employee activity outside of their employer's network. A controversy and court fight is swelling over its potential impact on employee privacy. A San Francisco-based startup, hiQ Labs Inc., offers products based on its analysis of publicly available LinkedIn data. One is Keeper, which identifies employees at risk of being recruited away, and another is Skill Mapper, which analyzes employee skills. The profile data is collected by software bots. The clients of hiQ's service may learn whether a LinkedIn member is a flight risk thanks to an individual risk score: high (red), medium (yellow) or low (green), according to court papers. LinkedIn is in court fighting this, but so far it's losing. A federal judge recently took exception to the use of the CFAA in this case "to punish hiQ for accessing publicly available data." The judge warned such an interpretation "could profoundly impact open access to the internet."

Comments

This one isn't that hard

[computational super]

You could always, you know, just... not use LinkedIn.

Re:This one isn't that hard

[bobbied]

You could always, you know, just... not use LinkedIn.

Excellent Advice... There is no good reason for it. Think of it as a quasi professional Facebook and trust what you read there with an even bigger grain of salt. There is little information there, certainly no information I'd trust.

I don't want to work for any employer who thinks checking my LinkedIn profile is even part of a background check anyway...

The words we use

[PopeRatzo]

"...may learn whether a LinkedIn member is a flight risk"

Get that? "Flight risk". So now we talk about workers in the same terms that we talk about fugitives or escaped slaves.

Re:The words we use

[CanHasDIY]

"...may learn whether a LinkedIn member is a flight risk"

Get that? "Flight risk". So now we talk about workers in the same terms that we talk about fugitives or escaped slaves.

Whaddayamean, "now?"

As far as I can recall as an employee, especially in big corporations, we've always been talked about like chattel.

Re:The words we use

[Dutch Gun]

Fine with me. I want my employers to think they might lose me to another company that offers better salary, benefits, and projects. Employers have always tried to persuade me from leaving when I found a better job. I need to learn what changes I need to make to my LinkedIn profile so it triggers warning bells, so I can hopefully get better salary increases without jumping to a new company. Well, assuming I actually worked for someone else. It doesn't matter for the self-employed.

I've never understood why people are concerned about using LinkedIn. I use it myself without any real concerns. To me, there are two primary reasons for its existence. First, it's a convenient way for me to keep my professional contacts up to date. Second, it's a way to keep my resume online in a place recruiters know where to find it.

Privacy doesn't really enter into this equation. Go ahead, corporations and head-hunters, data-mine the crap out of my information if you want to. I know that data is valuable to you, and I figure that's a fair trade for the benefits it gives me. That's why it's there in a public place, for all the world to find. LinkedIn, of course, gets their tights in a wad because others are slurping up the public data they're hosting, but it doesn't really affect me at all.

Translation

[thomn8r]

LinkedIn is bitching because other companies are slurping - for free - the personal information that LinkedIn collects - for free.

Rare outbreak of common sense.

[Anonymous Coward]

...to punish hiQ for accessing publicly available data." The judge warned such an interpretation "could profoundly impact open access to the internet."

Huh. This judge actually thought about it before doing something idiotic involving the internet. If you can get to something just by pointing your browser (or curl!) there, then it's publicly published and you can't expect someone else not to see it just because that might be at odds with your business model.

If you don't want your data to show up on LinkedIn, don't put it there. If you do want it, then go ahead, but don't complain when people see what you put online for the world to see. That's the whole point of the web.

Good for Employees?

[Jfetjunky]

I mean, unless you work for a soul-less corporation who will preemptively can you because you are a "flight risk", how's this bad for employees? If you truly are a good performer or marketable, sounds like this will just make companies step up if they want to keep you around (if they choose to use it, which they obviously don't have to).

Re:Then your career may be limited

[bobbied]

Oh, I know they look, but what I was trying to say (and didn't apparently succeed in actually saying) is that any company that depends on what they can find about me online when making hiring decisions is not a place I want to work. Sure, make a quick check online, but don't trust what you see for ANYTHING, good or bad because you have no way of knowing if 1. the information you are seeing is valid and 2. if that information actually applies to the person you think it does. Companies that look for information online are being lazy and stupid (or just plain cheap).

I don't want to work for a company that's lazy, stupid or cheap.

As a prospective employee, I don't publish any personal information online anyway, it's too riskily. I have an alter persona with a made up name and personal information that I use in all cases except when legally required to provide accurate information. This includes LinkedIn, Facebook, Slashdot and any other place you might run across me. My problem though is there are only three individuals with my exact name in the USA (all related) so it's a bit harder to hide in plain sight for me. I suggest you take steps to hide online too...