Few of the +150 million users realize that since LinkedIn began its operations that everyone gives an unrestricted license to everything posted. This may be a surprise since so few people ever bother to read Terms of Service (ToS) on any website or click agreement. Here is the license in LinkedIn’s User Agreement that all LinkedIn users must agree to before using LinkedIn which has not changed much since 2003 when LinkedIn began its operations:
…you grant LinkedIn a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and royalty-free right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve, distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, process, analyze, use and commercialize, …, any information you provide, directly or indirectly to LinkedIn, including,..
Just for clarity sake – “irrevocable” means the license cannot be terminated and “perpetual” means forever. So users should be mindful of what they post and messages they send using LinkedIn since LinkedIn has a license to all:
- email messages
- pictures
- messages to and from Connections
- recommendations
- PowerPoints posted
- EVERYTHING !!
Were you ready for the details of LinkedIn’s license? Most people are shocked to learn that LinkedIn has this license, so maybe people should take more time to read the ToS on websites so they would not be surprised.
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