LinkedIn Settles Class-Action Lawsuit

LinkedIn settles class-action lawsuit – Business Insider

Mega lawsuit forces LinkedIn to pay millions AND change its Privacy Policy. As we prepare for this Tuesday's Member's Only Hangout about Privacy Policy, last week's move to settlement on behalf of LinkedIn speaks to everyone doing business online – big and small. So if you got a long email about LinkedIn and a class-action legal settlement, yes, it's real, and yes, you could be eligible to get a chunk of the $13 million that the professional social network is paying to settle the lawsuit.

Here's the deal:

In 2013, a class-action lawsuit accused LinkedIn of accessing users' email accounts without their permission and unwittingly using their names to send email invitations to people in their address books.

The court agreed that LinkedIn members did give the social network permission to use their email contacts to send connection invitations.

The court found that although LinkedIn members consented to importing their contacts and sending LinkedIn connection requests, they did not consent to the two additional “reminder emails” that LinkedIn would send about those requests.

Although LinkedIn still denies any wrongdoing, it has made changes to its product and privacy policy and agreed to pay $13 million to settle the lawsuit. The settlement has not yet been approved, but LinkedIn and the plaintiffs' lawyers have agreed to it, so unless members of the class object, it'll probably be approved next year.

Assuming the settlement goes through, what does that mean for you?

As a LinkedIn user, you will now see a new disclosure when you send a connection invitation, letting you know that LinkedIn will send two reminder emails to the recipient. By the end of 2015, LinkedIn will also start letting members who are getting reminders stop those reminders from coming by canceling the invitation.

If you got the email, you may also be eligible to get some money.

LinkedIn's $13 million will be distributed pro rata, meaning that the amount each person gets will depends on how many people file claims. But if the number of claims means that the pay-out amounts to less than $10 per person who filed, LinkedIn will have to add on an additional $750,000.

LinkedIn sent Business Insider the following statement:

LinkedIn recently settled a lawsuit concerning its Add Connections product. In the lawsuit, a number of false accusations were made against LinkedIn. Based on its review of LinkedIn's product, the Court agreed that these allegations were false and found that LinkedIn's members gave permission to share their email contacts with LinkedIn and to send invitations to connect on LinkedIn. Because the Court also suggested that we could be more clear about the fact that we send reminder emails about pending invitations from LinkedIn members, we have made changes to our product and Privacy Policy. Ultimately, we decided to resolve this case so that we can put our focus where it matters most: finding additional ways to improve our members' experiences on LinkedIn. In doing so, we will continue to be guided by our core value — putting our Members First.

via LinkedIn settles class-action lawsuit

Here’s How To Make Sure You,
Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.

FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.

The training is titled: 3 Tragic (Legal) Privacy Policy List Building Mistakes That Can Get You In Hot Water With The FTC Today – Resulting In Your Business Being Shut Down… And How To Solve It!

Here are some of the things you’ll discover on the training:

• Real-Life Examples of People Who Didn’t Think They Were At Risk, But Who Got Nailed By The FTC, And Why It Could Happen To You, Too

• Why 2014 Was a Significant Year For Online Businesses, And Why You Should Be Worried!

• The 3 Enormous Powers The FTC Has That Can Change Your Life – And Your Family’s Life – Forever!

• How to Avoid FTC Claims When Collecting Leads With Optin Forms

• 3 Privacy Policy Mistakes Every Digital Marketer Is Making, And Why You're In The FTC Crosshairs.

• And Much More…

Remember: legal protection is a massively important part of your business, and it’s one you cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Go here to register for our next FREE training and make your business is FTC compliant today!

Disclaimer:  This article is provided for informational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Neither the author nor FTC Guardian, Inc. is endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission.