By Hu Yun Qi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft-owned social media platform LinkedIn has scrapped tools that could use sensitive personal data to target advertising in a move to comply with European Union online content rules, the platform said on Friday.
The company's move follows complaints by civil society groups to the European Commission, which also serves as the 27-nation bloc's technology watchdog.
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), online intermediaries are required to give users more control over the use of their data and offer the option to turn off personalised content.
Companies cannot use sensitive personal data, such as race, sexual orientation or political opinions, to target advertising.
The committee had requested information from LinkedIn in March after the group said the tool could allow advertisers to target LinkedIn users based on their race or ethnic origin, political opinions or other personal data based on their membership in LinkedIn groups.
“We have decided to adjust these tools by removing the ability to use LinkedIn Group membership as input to create advertising audiences in Europe,” LinkedIn vice president Patrick Corrigan said in a LinkedIn post.
“We made this change to prevent any misunderstanding that advertising to our European members could be indirectly targeted based on special data categories or related profiling categories,” he said.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton welcomed the move.
“The Committee will monitor whether LinkedIn's commitments are effectively implemented to ensure full compliance with the DSA,” he said in a statement.
The complainants, the European Digital Rights Institute (EDRi), the Global Freedom Foundation (GFF), Global Witness and Bits of Freedom, welcomed LinkedIn's move.
“Following pressure from Europe to act, LinkedIn must extend this policy to users around the world to ensure that it is not just European users who are protected from intrusive ad targeting,” Nienke Palstra of Global Witness said in a statement.
(Reporting by Hu Yun Qi; Editing by David Evans)
