LinkedIn to pay $13 million fine in ‘spam’ lawsuit settlement

NEW DELHI: Professional networking website LinkedIn will pay $13 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in a California District Court in US over allegations of spam.

The suit, filed in 2013, accused LinkedIn of sending unsolicited invitation emails to potential users by using email contacts lists of existing users who imported their email address book.

A part of the money paid by the networking giant for the settlement will be used to pay affected users. It applies to LinkedIn users who used the website's 'Add Connections' feature between September 17, 2011 and October 31, 2014. The development was first reported by LA Times.

As per the lawsuit, LinkedIn spammed owners of email addresses part of users' imported address books even if they did not respond by sending up to two reminder emails. It was alleged that LinkedIn members who used the "Add Connections" feature did not consent to sending follow-up emails.

According to the report, each affected user could receive up to $1,500 and users can file for a claim 

on a website named addconnectionssettlement.com before December 14, 2015.

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Interestingly, LinkedIn did not admit it was wrong and said it would revise its disclosures and clarify that two reminder emails will be sent as part of the service. It also said it would make reminders optional by end of the year.

In a statement, Linkedin said, "We decided to resolve this case so that we can put our focus where it matters most: finding additional ways to improve our members' experiences on LinkedIn."

Source : The Times Of India - Tech