● Covered by 2 sources · 2 reportsMedium impact1 neutral1 positive
LinkedIn wins dismissal of "BrowserGate" lawsuits over scanning user browser extensions
Key points
- Judge dismissed two lawsuits against LinkedIn over browser extension scanning.
- Plaintiffs failed to prove standing, did not show private data was shared.
- Judge stated it is unlikely a privacy violation can be alleged.
- Lawsuits stemmed from a report alleging LinkedIn illegally searched computers.
- A California federal judge finalized an agreement between LinkedIn, ProAPIs, and Netswift.
- The agreement mandates ProAPIs and Netswift cease mass scraping of LinkedIn user data.
- The agreement prevents selling or transferring scraped data and accessing LinkedIn via fake accounts.
- ProAPIs and Netswift must delete all previously collected data.
- Sarah Wright, LinkedIn's litigation and enforcement overseer, commented on the outcome.
- LinkedIn sued ProAPIs and Netswift in October for creating millions of bogus accounts.
- The scraped data included member, company, school information, reactions, comments, and posts.
Lawsuits Dismissed Due to Lack of Standing
A US District Court judge granted LinkedIn's motion to dismiss two class-action lawsuits concerning its practice of scanning users' browser extensions. The judge, Vince Chhabria, ruled that the plaintiffs, Nicholas Farrell and Jeff Ganan, failed to adequately allege they had standing to sue. Neither plaintiff asserted that their browser extensions conveyed private information to LinkedIn.
Unlikely Privacy Violation
Judge Chhabria expressed doubt that the plaintiffs could amend their complaints to make a plausible case. He noted that users voluntarily download browser extensions, which inherently expose data to websites, making a privacy violation unlikely to be proven. The court did not adjudicate the lawfulness of LinkedIn's surveillance practices, only its jurisdiction to hear the claims.
Background of "BrowserGate"
The lawsuits, filed in April, followed a report alleging that "LinkedIn Is illegally searching your computer." LinkedIn did not deny scanning browsers and stated in its privacy policy that it uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information about web browsers and add-ons. The report originated from Fairlinked, a German trade association linked to Teamfluence, an Estonian software company that previously sued LinkedIn.
Next Steps for Plaintiffs
J.R. Howell, attorney for one of the plaintiffs, is evaluating options, including bringing claims in a California state court, which has different standing requirements, or appealing the US district court ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Updates
- A California federal judge finalized an agreement between LinkedIn, ProAPIs, and Netswift.
- The agreement mandates ProAPIs and Netswift cease mass scraping of LinkedIn user data.
- The agreement prevents selling or transferring scraped data and accessing LinkedIn via fake accounts.
- ProAPIs and Netswift must delete all previously collected data.
- Sarah Wright, LinkedIn's litigation and enforcement overseer, commented on the outcome.
- LinkedIn sued ProAPIs and Netswift in October for creating millions of bogus accounts.
- The scraped data included member, company, school information, reactions, comments, and posts.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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How outlets covered it
A California federal judge finalized an agreement between LinkedIn and two software companies, ProAPIs and Netswift, mandating they cease mass scraping of LinkedIn user data. This ruling prevents the companies from selling or transferring scraped data, accessing LinkedIn via fake accounts, and requires them to delete all previously collected data, addressing a persistent issue of unauthorized data extraction on the platform.
A US District Court judge dismissed two class-action lawsuits against LinkedIn regarding its practice of scanning users' browser extensions. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing as they did not adequately allege that private information was conveyed to LinkedIn, indicating that a privacy violation is unlikely to be proven.