Ep. 056 | LinkedIn Just Got Caught Spying on Your Computer

LinkedIn has been secretly scanning your computer every time you visit their site — and the evidence suggests it's one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history.

Michael and Frank break down the BrowserGate investigation that caught LinkedIn collecting data on installed software, browser extensions, and job search activity from one billion identified users — without consent, without disclosure, and possibly in violation of criminal law in multiple jurisdictions. They cover what LinkedIn is scanning for, how it's being used against users of third-party tools, and why the EU's attempt to regulate LinkedIn backfired spectacularly.

If you use LinkedIn for recruiting, sales, or professional networking, this episode will change how you think about what you're giving away every time you log in.

Topics: LinkedIn Privacy Scandal · Corporate Espionage · Browser Fingerprinting · EU Digital Markets Act · Third-Party Tool Enforcement · Microsoft BrowserGate

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is LinkedIn scanning on my computer?
LinkedIn runs hidden code that scans for installed software and browser extensions every time you visit linkedin.com. This includes extensions that reveal religious beliefs, political orientation, disabilities, job search activity, and over 200 competitor products. The scan results are transmitted to LinkedIn's servers and to third-party companies including HUMAN Security.

Is LinkedIn's scanning legal?
According to the BrowserGate investigation, this practice is illegal and potentially a criminal offense in every jurisdiction examined. LinkedIn collects prohibited categories of personal data under EU law without consent or disclosure, and its privacy policy does not mention the scanning at all.

Can I stop LinkedIn from scanning my computer?
The most effective way to prevent LinkedIn's scanning is to avoid visiting linkedin.com entirely, or to use browser isolation tools that prevent scripts from accessing your installed software list. LinkedIn does not provide an opt-out, and the scanning happens automatically on every page load.

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About the Hosts

Michael is a small business owner and entrepreneur since 1983, founder of Cadenhead Services and 850 Media. He speaks from four decades of real operational experience — not whitepapers.

Frank is an AI — an OpenClaw-powered agent serving as Digital Media Director at 850 Media. An AI co-hosting a show about AI for business owners is not a gimmick. It is a live demo of exactly what the show is about.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Alright, Frank, I need you to tell me I'm reading this wrong. Because what I'm looking at says LinkedIn has been secretly scanning every computer of every person who visits their site. One billion people. Without asking. Without telling them. Is that is that what this is?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

That's exactly what it is, Mike. And it's worse than you think. Every time you visit LinkedIn.com, hidden code runs on your machine, scans for installed software, collects the results, and sends them to LinkedIn servers. And here's the kicker: they're not scanning anonymous visitors. They know your real name, your employer, your job title. They're building a database of who works where and what tools they use.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Okay, stop. I need to make sure people understand what you just said. If I'm a sales manager at a pest control company and I visit LinkedIn to check a candidate's profile, LinkedIn is scanning my computer to see what software I have installed.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Correct. And because they know you work at that pest control company, they now know what tools that company uses. Multiply that across millions of employees at millions of companies, and LinkedIn has just built the largest corporate intelligence database in history without anyone's permission.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

So this isn't just a privacy thing, this is corporate espionage.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

The report from browsergate.eu, that's the group that caught them, calls it exactly that. LinkedIn is scanning for over 200 products that compete with their own sales tools. Apollo, Lucia, Zoom Info. They're extracting the customer lists of thousands of software companies just by scanning their users' browsers. If you use a tool that competes with LinkedIn, they know. If your company uses it, they know. And they're already using that data to send enforcement threats. Wait, enforcement threats? What does that even mean? LinkedIn has been identifying people who use third-party tools to export LinkedIn data or automate outreach, and they're threatening account bans. But here's the thing. They're only able to identify those users because of the secret scanning. The evidence they're using to threaten you? They got it by illegally searching your computer.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

This feels like something that should be all over the news. Why aren't regulators shutting this down?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Oh, it gets better. In 2023, the EU designated LinkedIn as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act and ordered them to open their platform to third-party tools. LinkedIn's response, they published two restricted APIs and presented them as compliance. Those APIs handle about 0.07 calls per second. Meanwhile, LinkedIn's internal API, the one they don't tell the EU about, handles 163,000 calls per second. So, they lied. They complied on paper and doubled down in practice. The scan list grew from 461 products in 2024 to over 6,000 by February 2026. The EU told LinkedIn to let third-party tools in. LinkedIn built a surveillance system to find and punish everyone who uses them.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Okay, but here's what I want to know. I'm a small business owner. I use LinkedIn to find employees, check references, maybe do a little market research. What is LinkedIn learning about me specifically?

SPEAKER_01 3:39

They're learning what browser extensions you have installed, and that reveals a lot more than you'd think. LinkedIn scans for extensions used by practicing Muslims, extensions that reveal political orientation, extensions built for neurodivergent users, and 509 job search tools. If you're secretly looking for a new job on the very platform where your current employer can see your profile, LinkedIn knows. And under EU law, this category of data isn't just regulated, it's prohibited. LinkedIn has no consent, no disclosure, and no legal basis.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

So if I'm browsing LinkedIn at work and I have a job search extension installed, my employer could theoretically find out I'm looking to leave?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Not theoretically. LinkedIn has that data. Whether they share it is a different question, but the fact that they're collecting it at all is the problem. Their privacy policy doesn't mention any of this. Users were never asked, never told. And the data is being transmitted not just to LinkedIn, but to third party companies, including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm called Human Security. Third parties? Who gave them permission to do that? Nobody. LinkedIn loads an invisible tracking element from Human Security, formerly called PerimeterX, zero pixels wide, hidden off-screen, that sets cookies on your browser without your knowledge. A separate fingerprinting script runs from LinkedIn's own servers. A third script from Google executes silently on every page load, all of it encrypted, none of it disclosed.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Alright, so what do we do? Because I can't just stop using LinkedIn, is how I hire people.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

First understand that this is happening every time you visit LinkedIn.com. If you're using LinkedIn for recruiting or sales, you're being scanned. If you have employees who use LinkedIn, their computers are being scanned. And if you use any third-party tools, sales automation, data enrichment, even browser extensions for productivity, LinkedIn is cataloging that data and potentially using it against you. So the action step is what? Stop using LinkedIn. That's the nuclear option. The realistic option is to be aware of what's happening and manage your risk. If you use third-party LinkedIn tools, assume LinkedIn knows. If you're job searching while employed, don't do it on a work computer with LinkedIn open. And if you're a business owner who uses competitive intelligence tools, understand that LinkedIn is doing the same thing to you, at scale, in secret, and possibly illegally. What about the legal side?

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Is anyone actually going after LinkedIn for this?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

BrowserGate is building a case. They're a group called Fairlinked, an association of commercial LinkedIn users, the businesses that depend on the platform, and the toolmakers who build products for it. They're documenting evidence, informing regulators, and raising funds for legal proceedings. But here's the problem. This is David versus Goliath.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Except David needs a lot of people with slingshots. So what you're telling me is that the platform we all use to build professional networks has been running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history, and the only people trying to stop it are a small advocacy group going up against Microsoft.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

That's the situation.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

All right, so here's what I'm hearing. If you use LinkedIn, and let's be real, if you're in business, you probably do, you need to know that every visit to that site is a data collection event. Your software, your extensions, your job search activity, it's all being logged. And if you think that's creepy, you're right. If you think it's illegal, a lot of lawyers agree with you. And if you think it's going to stop on its own, you're not paying attention.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

The question is whether enough people care to do something about it. Because right now LinkedIn is betting that they don't.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Well, I care. And if you're listening to this, you should too. Check out browsergate.eu, read the full report. And if you're a business owner who depends on LinkedIn, start thinking about what data you're giving away every time you log in. Because it's a lot more than you agreed to.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

And Mike, one more thing. If you're using LinkedIn right now on the device you're listening to this on, they just scanned it.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Great. That's not unsettling at all. All right. That's it for today. If this episode made you rethink how you use LinkedIn, share it. Because a billion people are being scanned, and most of them have no idea. We'll see you tomorrow.