ISAIL Statement on on LinkedIn's Violation of User Privacy and the Need for Government Action

Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law
Sep 26, 2024
2 min read

The Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law (ISAIL) expresses deep concern over the recent violation of user privacy by LinkedIn, wherein the platform used personal information and content produced by its users to train its generative AI (GenAI) models without obtaining explicit consent.

This breach of trust and misuse of user data is unacceptable and requires immediate action from the Government of India to protect the privacy rights of Indian citizens.

ISAIL urges the Government of India to take swift action against LinkedIn under the existing provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act). The following measures should be considered:

Initiate an investigation into LinkedIn's data practices under Section 43A of the IT Act, which mandates reasonable security practices and procedures for handling sensitive personal data or information. If found in violation, LinkedIn should be liable to pay damages by way of compensation.
Examine whether LinkedIn's use of user data for AI training without explicit consent and adequate disclosure constitutes a breach of its user agreements, attracting penalties under Section 72A of the IT Act.
Direct the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to assess LinkedIn's compliance with the IT Act and issue necessary guidelines for data protection in the context of AI development.
Encourage the development of a self-regulatory framework by industry stakeholders, including social media platforms and AI developers, to establish best practices for data governance and user privacy protection in AI systems.