// what you give them
You — 1 billion+ members
Name & photo
Work history
Education & skills
Posts & comments
Group messages
Resume & answers
AI prompts typed
Feedback reactions
EU data controller · legitimate interest · no consent required · default ON
EU data controller
LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company
Balancing test for AI training: self-assessed, not published, not verifiable.
Irish DPC jurisdiction
Opt-out required
transatlantic transfer · EU-US Data Privacy Framework · already challenged in court
US parent — where your data actually lives
LinkedIn Corporation · Sunnyvale, California
"Data centers are currently located in the US" — LinkedIn's own help page. FTC enforces here, not GDPR.
FTC jurisdiction
GDPR stops here
AI training pipeline
AI training · all EU/EEA
Microsoft Azure OpenAI
Your profile, posts and messages train generative AI via Microsoft infrastructure.
Direct AI training UK ONLY
Microsoft Corporation
UK data goes directly to Microsoft's own AI models. Consequence of Brexit removing EEA protections.
the opt-out is not what you think
// opt-out holes
- Past data already in the pipeline. Opt-out only stops future processing.
- Feedback reactions (thumbs up/down) are NOT covered by the main toggle.
- AI for personalisation and anti-abuse is NOT covered at all.
- UK Microsoft training requires a separate opt-out action.
// never had an account?
You may still be in the training data. If someone mentioned your name in a post — already processed. You never agreed. Doesn't matter.