I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn.
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I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.
Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
@Ivovanwilligen this is why I don't have a blue tick
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I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.
Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
@Ivovanwilligen damn, thanks for looking into this. I naively did the verification some time ago and embarrassingly did not pay attention to the details. Time for me to get them to delete my data…
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I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.
Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
@Ivovanwilligen I'm curious to know if your deletion request and objection to the DPO were acknowledged/honored?
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I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.
Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
@Ivovanwilligen for the sake of completeness - this persona: https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona/ #privacy #security #persona
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@noodlemaz@mstdn.games
With respect, I made it work for me.
It's clear all corporate social media see biometrics as another commodity they can sell, and they got there by people sighing and accepting them commodifying user data.
Pointing out people shouldn't just shrug and go along with unreasonable requests, isn't "being like that".@Theriac @noodlemaz Although there is currently no expectation to be verified on LinkedIn (and I wouldn't deal with verification, even if it was), having a LinkedIn account seems to be the standard and a way in which recruiters "verify" one's employment history and connections, before talking to a person. Websites might make sense for people who have some kind of portfolio, but not everyone has something like that.
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@EverydayMoggie @noodlemaz @Ivovanwilligen
The problem is, for most people they need the service they are registering with (or at least think they do). Not signing is not an option, so what’s the point of reading the small print?
For example, I want the security updates on my iPhone. I have to click ‘accept’ to get them. The alternative is effectively to brick my phone.
It’s a scandal, and law makers the world over are not getting a grip.@KimSJ
@EverydayMoggie @noodlemaz @Ivovanwilligen
The law does recognise this and the reality is a lot of these clickwrap "adhesion contracts" are extensively modified by consumer law. This can make interpretation difficult as I guess we see here.I don't even bother with the fine print for financial services products because the industry is heavily regulated and they can just change the terms anyway. What am I going to do, pay off my mortgage because I don't like clause 45.6.7?

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I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge acquired. I felt a tiny dopamine hit of legitimacy.
Then I did what apparently nobody does. I went and read the privacy policy and terms of service.
Not LinkedIn’s. The other company’s.
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
@Ivovanwilligen And when Linkedin account is blocked (because you have disconnected/reconnected and made several profile modifications), you must follow the same procedure (without the selfie) to be able to regain access to your account. And when you ask for deletion of your data, they reply that compliance with deletion of data in the GDPR is not fixed, it is at their discretion depending on whether they want to keep them (even without the account having been blocked or suspended or reported).
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R ActivityRelay shared this topic
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@Theriac @noodlemaz Although there is currently no expectation to be verified on LinkedIn (and I wouldn't deal with verification, even if it was), having a LinkedIn account seems to be the standard and a way in which recruiters "verify" one's employment history and connections, before talking to a person. Websites might make sense for people who have some kind of portfolio, but not everyone has something like that.
@Cassiopeia12727 I left LinkedIn a few months ago. At a certain moment it just didn't feel right anymore , just like I had that same feeling with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter before. No one forces me to have an account there. And I don't feel I'm missing out on anything after I left. @Theriac @noodlemaz
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@Cassiopeia12727 I left LinkedIn a few months ago. At a certain moment it just didn't feel right anymore , just like I had that same feeling with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter before. No one forces me to have an account there. And I don't feel I'm missing out on anything after I left. @Theriac @noodlemaz
@karelbrits @Cassiopeia12727 @Theriac I absolutely hate linkedin. I haven't looked at it in about a year, though work is constantly asking us to interact with our stuff there.
It gives me rage.
I got one job out of it years ago, figured I might need it later. Turned off the AI scraping option, if that does anything. Won't be giving them any ID. Delete first.