Plaintiff drops LinkedIn class action over data sharing to train AI

Update:

• A LinkedIn user dropped a class action lawsuit alleging the social media network unlawfully disclosed its premium customers’ private messages to third parties to train its AI models.
• On Jan. 30, plaintiff Alessandro De La Torre lodged a notice of voluntary dismissal of all his claims, just nine days after he originally filed the lawsuit on Jan. 21.
• De La Torre’s counsel reportedly told Law360 that LinkedIn showed evidence it did not use paid subscribers’ private messages for AI training purposes.
• In a post on LinkedIn, Sarah Wight, the company’s vice president, announced the “good news” of the withdrawal of the “baseless lawsuit.” 
• “It falsely alleged that LinkedIn shared private member messages with third parties for AI training purposes,” she wrote. “We never did that. It is important to always set the record straight.” 

LinkedIn class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Alessandro De La Torre filed a class action lawsuit against LinkedIn Corp.
• Why: De La Torre claims LinkedIn unlawfully disclosed its premium customers’ private messages to third parties.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.

A new class action lawsuit alleges LinkedIn unlawfully disclosed its premium customers’ private messages to third parties to train generative artificial intelligence models.

Plaintiff Alessandro De La Torre’s class action lawsuit, filed Jan. 21, claims LinkedIn disclosed sensitive information from its customers’ messages about employment, intellectual property, compensation and other personal matters.

He claims that LinkedIn breached its contracts with Premium customers, who paid for subscriptions that promised heightened privacy protections.

“Plaintiff and members of the putative Class are Premium LinkedIn customers whose private messages were disclosed to third parties,” the class action says. “They were not notified beforehand, did not consent to these disclosures, and their contracts were breached.”

LinkedIn failed to offer to delete data from existing AI models, class action says

De La Torre argues LinkedIn has not remedied the situation since the allegations were made public.

“LinkedIn has not offered to delete the data from the existing AI models or retrain them to eliminate their reliance on the disclosed information,” the LinkedIn class action says.

As a result, De La Torre wants to represent a nationwide class of all LinkedIn premium customers who sent or received InMail messages and whose private communications were disclosed by LinkedIn with third-party entities for AI training purposes prior to Sept. 18, 2024.

The LinkedIn class action lawsuit claims the company is guilty of breach of contract and violations of the Stored Communications Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law.

De La Torre demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of statutory damages of $1,000 per person, plus actual damages, costs and attorneys’ fees.

In January, a California federal judge threw out a class action lawsuit that claims LinkedIn unlawfully tracked the activities of members who visited the California Department of Motor Vehicles website to apply for, renew or check the status of a disability placard.

Have you paid for a LinkedIn premium subscription? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Rafey Balabanian and Jared Lucky of Edelson PC.

The LinkedIn class action is Alessandro De La Torre v. LinkedIn Corp., Case No. 5:25-cv-00709, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Amazon reaches undisclosed settlement over NBA 2K facial scans
• UnitedHealth class action settlement gets preliminary approval
• Google, YouTube must face children’s data collection claims
• Paramount seeks dismissal of data-sharing class action