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

Why linked in alone?

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

With data consolidation all your public information can be collected and sold, for whatever reason.

Already credit reporting agencies do it.

Already all the arrest records and court filings are available for search

Already people are posting so much about their personal lives in twitter, facebook and other media.

Already companies are collecting tons of these information and collating them and are willing to sell them.

So far banks planning lend money and advertisers looking to find customers were the big customers. Corporate HR recruiting and retention is definitely in the market for info. Insurance fraud detectors, bail bondsman, debt collectors and alimoney deadbeat trackers all use these services to some degree or the other. Welcome to the brave new world, folks. Privacy is dead.

No need for HiQ or LinkedIn

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Like many companies, the one I work for monitors their employees' internet usage. One thing they track is employees hitting job listing sites during work hours. No linkedIn or HiQ or anyone else involved. How hard can it be?

In fact, it's a well-known trick in my company: if you want a quick raise, hit those sites regularly at lunch time, even if you're happy with your job and your salary. Do that for a while, and HR eventually calls you to propose you a better pay package - as if they magically knew you're not completely happy with your current conditions. I've had two pay raises that way, without lifting a finger :)