https://stackdiary.com/german-court-bans-linkedin-from-ignoring-do-not-track-signals/

Skip to content  
Search for: [                    ]
Stack DiaryStack Diary Stack Diary

For Developers, Designers, and Makers.

 
Search
   
 
Secondary Navigation

  * Development
  * Design
  * AI
  * Tech
  * Security
  * Privacy
  * Hosting
  * WordPress
  * Tutorials
  * Linux Docs

Main Navigation

  * Home
  * About
  * Categories
      + Development
      + Design
      + Artificial Intelligence
      + Tech
      + Security
      + Privacy
      + Hosting
      + Tutorials
      + WordPress
      + Linux Docs
  * Contact

   

  * Privacy

German court bans LinkedIn from ignoring "Do Not Track" signals

LinkedIn prohibited from ignoring tracking signals and sharing
profiles.

Alex Ivanovs avatarAlex Ivanovs avatar Alex Ivanovs
October 31, 2023
Reader Disclosure Our content is reader-supported. This means if you
buy through our affiliate links, may earn a commission, which helps
keep our content free.
Court bans LinkedIn data protection violationsCourt bans LinkedIn
data protection violations

The Berlin Regional Court has issued a ruling against professional
networking platform LinkedIn, prohibiting some of its data practices.
The lawsuit was brought by the Federation of German Consumer
Organizations (vzbv).

The court found that LinkedIn cannot ignore "Do Not Track" signals
sent by users' browsers. These signals allow internet users to
opt-out of having their online activities tracked. Despite receiving
these signals, LinkedIn still announced on its website that it
engages in tracking for analysis and marketing purposes. The court
said this communication is misleading, as LinkedIn is legally
required to respect the Do Not Track requests.

Additionally, the court banned LinkedIn from automatically making
users' profiles publicly visible when they first create an account.
This "Profile Visibility" default setting published users'
information without their consent, violating data protection
regulations. Users must expressly agree before their profiles can be
visible to non-members.

This comes after earlier partial rulings prohibited LinkedIn from
sending unsolicited emails to non-members and using terms and
conditions forcing users to waive certain legal rights.

Vzbv called the decision a victory for consumers: "When people
activate 'Do Not Track,' it sends a clear message that they don't
want their online activities spied on. Website operators have to
respect that." The group said the ruling confirms internet users have
control over their personal data.

Laws have little bite without enforcement

While the ruling against LinkedIn is a welcome development, I'm
skeptical it will truly move the needle on respecting user privacy.
Do Not Track has been around for years, yet sites continue ignoring
it without consequence. This case may set a precedent, but it's one
isolated judgment in Germany.

For any real change, we need sustained enforcement across the EU, not
just one-off lawsuits. But regulators have so far dragged their feet.
And even if all sites in Europe complied, tech companies would likely
just shift intrusive tracking outside the continent. Cookie consent
banners have become pure theater.

Fundamentally, privacy and consent protections like Do Not Track rely
on voluntary compliance by self-interested corporations. They find
ways around rules meant to empower users. Some sites may make a show
of respecting signals like DNT, but it's trivial to bypass with
superficial consent prompts.

Meaningful privacy ultimately requires rethinking how sites are built
and monetized. But Silicon Valley has little incentive to abandon
surveillance capitalism. Big Tech pays lip service to privacy while
collecting as much data as possible. Unless that business model
changes, I have little faith voluntary measures like DNT will be more
than an empty gesture. This ruling is progress, but we need much
bolder reforms.

Share

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Alex IvanovsAlex Ivanovs

Written By

Alex Ivanovs

Alex is the founder of Stack Diary. He's been coding and building
web-based projects for over 15 years and has shared his know-how in
places like Entrepreneur and TheNextWeb. He has also worked as one of
the lead people behind the Huffington Post Code column. Besides
writing, Alex has given advice to several tech startups like MaxCDN,
HostGator, and others. You can follow Alex on GitHub, LinkedIn, or
Twitter.

Post navigation

Previous Post Previous Russia is developing an alternative to
Google's VirusTotal
Next Post Next Google Chrome now automatically upgrades HTTP links to
HTTPS

Read also

 1. Russia is developing an alternative to Google's VirusTotal
 2. 11 Best Prototyping Tools for UI & UX Designers
 3. Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property of undefined
 4. Top 8 Website Monitoring Tools for Uptime & Performance
 5. The 10 Best Performance Plugins for WordPress

Stack DiaryStack Diary
(c) 2023 Stack Diary - All rights reserved.
   

Footer Menu

  * About
  * Advertise
  * Disclosure
  * Contact