Microsoft's LinkedIn Loses Appeal Over Access to User Profiles

hiQ showed it faced irreparable harm absent an injunction because it might go out of business without access.

Advertisement
By Reuters | Updated: 10 September 2019 12:45 IST
Microsoft's LinkedIn Loses Appeal Over Access to User Profiles

Photo Credit: Washington Post photo by Geoffrey Fowler

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected LinkedIn's effort to stop a San Francisco company from using information that users of the professional networking website have deemed public.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals let stand an August 2017 preliminary injunction that required LinkedIn, a Microsoft unit with more than 645 million members, to give hiQ Labs access to publicly available member profiles.

The 3-0 decision by the San Francisco appeals court sets back Silicon Valley's battle against "data scraping," or extracting information from social media accounts or websites, which critics say can equate to theft or violate users' privacy.

Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon said hiQ, which makes software to help employers determine whether employees will stay or quit, showed it faced irreparable harm absent an injunction because it might go out of business without access.

Advertisement

She also said giving companies such as LinkedIn "free rein" over who can use public user data risked creating "information monopolies" that harm the public interest.

"LinkedIn has no protected property interest in the data contributed by its users, as the users retain ownership over their profiles," Berzon wrote. "And as to the publicly available profiles, the users quite evidently intend them to be accessed by others," including prospective employers.

Advertisement

In a statement, LinkedIn said it was disappointed with the decision and evaluating its options, and will "fight to protect our members and the information they entrust" to it.

Lawyers for hiQ did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case was returned to US District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco, who issued the injunction.

Advertisement

Craigslist, the classified ad website, had supported LinkedIn's appeal, warning that the injunction could have a "dangerous impact" by making it easier for "bad actors" to find targets for unwanted email, text or phone-based marketing.

Berzon said, however, hiQ had raised serious questions about LinkedIn's conduct, including whether it could invoke a federal law targeting computer fraud and abuse to block "free riders" from accessing user data.

"Of course, LinkedIn could satisfy its 'free rider' concern by eliminating the public access option, albeit at a cost to the preferences of many users and, possibly, to its own bottom line," she wrote.

Gregory Garre, a former US solicitor general under President George W. Bush representing craigslist, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Donald Verrilli, a solicitor general under President Barack Obama, represented LinkedIn. Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe was one of hiQ's lawyers.

The case is hiQ Labs v LinkedIn Corp, 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 17-16783.

© Thomson Reuters 2019

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: LinkedIn, hiQ Labs
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. OnePlus Pad 3 With 12,140mAh Battery Launched in India: Check Features
  2. Our Fault OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch Final Chapter of Culpables Online?
  3. OnePlus 13s vs iQOO 13: Price in India, Specifications Compared
  4. OnePlus 13s Launched in India: Know Price, Specifications and More
  5. OnePlus 13s Review
  6. Realme GT 7 and GT 7T Review
  7. Oppo Teases Launch of New Smartphone in India; Could Be Reno 14
  8. Nothing Headphone 1 to Launch Alongside Nothing Phone 3 on July 1
  9. Best Smartphones Under Rs 25,000 in India: Check List
  10. Redmi Pad 2 With 9,000mAh Battery Launched in Global Markets: See Price
  1. Hugging Face Releases SmolVLA Open Source AI Model For Robotics Workflows
  2. Redmi Pad 2 With 9,000mAh Battery, MediaTek Helio G100 Ultra Chip Launched: Price, Specifications
  3. Alphabet CEO Expects to Keep Hiring Engineers as AI Advances
  4. Amazon Said to Be Preparing to Test Humanoid Robots for Deliveries
  5. Google Doubles Gemini 2.5 Pro Rate Limit for Google AI Pro Subscribers
  6. Apple Said to Have Given iPhone Repair Business to Tata India as Partnership Expands
  7. Huawei Pura 80 Pro, Pura 80 Pro+ Design Teased; Pre-Reservation Begin
  8. Mistral Code AI-Powered Coding Assistant Introduced for Enterprise Developers
  9. Nothing Headphone 1 Launch Date Set for July 1, to Arrive Alongside Nothing Phone 3
  10. Ethereum Foundation Announces Overhauled Treasury Strategy Amid Scaling Push
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.