LinkedIn Sued for Reading Universal Clipboard Data

[MacRumors]

Microsoft's LinkedIn was sued yesterday for allegedly reading and diverting users' private information using the iOS clipboard.

The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court states that LinkedIn "secretly" read the clipboard "a lot," without notifying the user, according to Reuters. The complaint also claims that LinkedIn has been gathering clipboard information from nearby Apple devices through the Universal Clipboard feature, and has been circumventing Apple's Universal Clipboard timeout.

The lawsuit attempts to certify the complaint as class action based on alleged violation of the law or social norms, under California laws. Last week, LinkedIn claimed that the clipboard copying behavior is a bug and is not an intended operation. A VP at LinkedIn commented that the contents of the clipboard are not stored or transmitted, and that a fix for the issue will soon be available.

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 include a new privacy banner feature that informs users when an app pastes from the clipboard. Other apps, such as TikTok, Twitter, Starbucks, Overstock, AccuWeather, and more, have also been caught snooping on user clipboards for no clear reason, but this is the first legal case of its kind related to clipboard spying.

Article Link: LinkedIn Sued for Reading Universal Clipboard Data

 

[kenni417]

oh boy, here we go ...

 

[CausticSoda]

Good! I hope they are all taken to the cleaners.

 

[chrono1081]

So, I'm not totally convinced on these cases. While some may be doing nefarious things we have a few of our apps (internal apps, not public facing) at work that are showing up flagged and we have a very small user base and don't do any data collection, not even metrics on those apps.

 

[Optheduim]

Holy Cow!! Way to go LinkedIn, so nice to have steal my words for your own gain.

 

[ian87w]

Well, I guess this is not unexpected.

I have a feeling iOS14 will pit Apple against the rest of Silicon Valley as this notices will pop up on many common apps.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

I personally was always a little suspicious of LinkedIn. I quit using the app years ago, but would continue to get "invites" from friends who, after i asked them about it, said they had never sent one to me. The "bug" argument, however, with a good lawyer could get them off the hook. Just IMO but it seems like justice anymore is subject to the highest bidder.

 

[amartinez1660]

I just learned with this article that LinkedIn is Microsoft’s! Had no clue.

 

[MaSx]

This is what we found so far. Imagine what else they have been doing?

Users should have more choices and options into what the app can access. Apple needs to make a "Temporary" access option or "allow while using" or some sort of timer setting for Photo/Camera/Mic/Contacts, etc. This is going out of hand.

 

[smithrh]

I just learned with this article that LinkedIn is Microsoft’s! Had no clue.

Microsoft bought LinkedIn a few years ago for many billions.

LinkedIn became very revenue-oriented at that point.

 

[amartinez1660]

This is what we found so far. Imagine what else they have been doing?

Users should have more choices and options into what the app can access. Apple needs to make a "Temporary" access option or "allow while using" or some sort of timer setting for Photo/Camera/Mic/Contacts, etc. This is going out of hand.

Damn, quite on point. I think that if Apple notified the user if an app is trying to read or get information from the camera/mic/etc we would find some more skeletons. Pretty sure “spying driven” business have found ways to circumvent the current settings to their benefit.

 

[inkswamp]

Microsoft bought LinkedIn a few years ago for many billions.

LinkedIn became very revenue-oriented at that point.

Was just noting a few days ago that LinkedIn became very aggressive with the upsell messages and the almost pointless notifications a few years ago ("a friend of a friend of a friend just liked something!") Was wondering why that had happened. Mystery solved.
[automerge]1594489102[/automerge]

This is what we found so far. Imagine what else they have been doing?

Users should have more choices and options into what the app can access. Apple needs to make a "Temporary" access option or "allow while using" or some sort of timer setting for Photo/Camera/Mic/Contacts, etc. This is going out of hand.

Yep. I also think it wouldn't hurt to have a log somewhere to see what apps have accessed what data so you can review. Imagine being able to log in to iCloud and see for yourself that LinkedIn's app was looking at your clipboard like that. It would put a stop to this kind of abuse instantly.

 

[mi7chy]

Based on LinkedIn's past actions I'm leaning towards guilty although the monetary judgement should go to consumers rather than lawyers. With the negative PR building up I wonder if Microsoft will end up spinning it off.

 

[nebo1ss]

I personally was always a little suspicious of LinkedIn. I quit using the app years ago, but would continue to get "invites" from friends who, after i asked them about it, said they had never sent one to me. The "bug" argument, however, with a good lawyer could get them off the hook. Just IMO but it seems like justice anymore is subject to the highest bidder.

It appears that when you sign up for Linkedin it reads your address book and sends out invitations automatically. I signed up for this app a few years ago for about 30 minutes. I cancelled immediately because of the phone calls i was getting asking why i was sending out invitation for LinkedIn.

 

[fairuz]

It appears that when you sign up for Linkedin it reads your address book and sends out invitations automatically. I signed up for this app a few years ago for about 30 minutes. I cancelled immediately because of the phone calls i was getting asking why i was sending out invitation for LinkedIn.

You had to have given access. Never trust that.

The lawsuit claims LinkedIn is stealing your clipboard data and sending it back. It's possible to prove this if you just look at the network traffic.

 

[nickgovier]

.

 

[scuac]

This makes me glad I never installed their app (or Facebook or anything similar). If I need to check it I simply open it in the browser which works just fine. Don’t trust any of the apps for these “free” social services. This clipboard thing was discovered now because of iOS 14, who knows what else they are doing that we don’t know about.

 

[kissmo]

Ahhh the "Professional Facebook" has been exposed.

Turns out these social media platforms are not the actual problems but the people on them create a fertile ground for companies to milk privacy data.

LinkedIn is what I define the peak of social media prostitution mainly because people use it to show off their jobs and "intellectual" level of grandeur while wearing a tie.

I know... I really sound like a grandpa, but I removed myself from LinkedIn 2 months ago when I opened and I browsed to the stories. Literally a Facebook with a different shade.
I use it only to search for jobs if I really am interested and in a browser.

I am glad Apple did this. I noticed other apps with similar behavior. Big Kudos to them.

 

[damphoose]

So, I'm not totally convinced on these cases. While some may be doing nefarious things we have a few of our apps (internal apps, not public facing) at work that are showing up flagged and we have a very small user base and don't do any data collection, not even metrics on those apps.

Nefarious or not;. If you are not actually doing it and the software is incorrectly flagging you then that is a conversation for Apple’s bug team. If your software is unintentionally doing tis then thats conversation for your engineers. If you are intentionally doing it and its not “nefarious“ then that is conversation to have with your clients. A note at install why you need to collect clipboard data for app functionality should suffice. Its not Apple job to figure who as ill intent for what they collect.

 

[rp2011]

Wouldn’t doubt that Apple will soon be sued for “allowing“ this sort of thing to happen in the first place.
Remember, the laws are in place to satisfy those seeking out the shake down of those with the deepest pockets.
I *could be wrong.

 

[Professor Rucy]

If the litigant is successful, this will be a great resume enhancer.

 

[dannyyankou]

Good. Sue Dunkin, the Weather Channel, and Starbucks too.

 

[4jasontv]

So, I'm not totally convinced on these cases. While some may be doing nefarious things we have a few of our apps (internal apps, not public facing) at work that are showing up flagged and we have a very small user base and don't do any data collection, not even metrics on those apps.

It doesn't really matter why it was doing it. It was capturing data without informing the user it would do so.

Imagine telling the judge 'I don't even need this valuable item, so I don't know why I took it off the store's shelf and then climbed out the bathroom window.'

 

[luvbug]

LinkedIn to liars - a connection we have way too many of, these days. Ofc, even if they lose the case, they'll just get a paltry slap on the wrist and go merrily on their way ... to do it again.

 

[mtneer]

Can someone shed some light on how Linkedin was able to scrape clipboard information from "nearby Apple devices"? Does that mean a strangers iPhone with Linkedin who just happened to be in the same store or a bus was able to ready my clipboard?