LinkedIn contact details

Reebrock

I am about to set up my first LinkedIn account. As I understand it, you enter your email address and it will scan your contacts to see if you have anybody you know on the website.

Ideally I would like to firstly add my personal email to scan those contacts. Then from there, add my proper work email so moving forward I can begin networking with that.

Is this possible? Or once you enter an email address you are locked to that decision?

Thank You.

Reebrock

Reebrock wrote: »

I am about to set up my first LinkedIn account. As I understand it, you enter your email address and it will scan your contacts to see if you have anybody you know on the website.

Ideally I would like to firstly add my personal email to scan those contacts. Then from there, add my proper work email so moving forward I can begin networking with that.

Is this possible? Or once you enter an email address you are locked to that decision?

Thank You.

You can add multiple email addresses to your LinkedIn account. You can choose which one is your primary and change it whenever you like. See screenshot attached.

Reebrock

That's great, thank you very much, IO.

OMM 0000

Reebrock wrote: »

I am about to set up my first LinkedIn account. As I understand it, you enter your email address and it will scan your contacts to see if you have anybody you know on the website.

It wants the username/password for your e-mail accounts so it can access your contacts. Don't do that. You shouldn't be giving companies access to your e-mail accounts, and also your contacts may not want you sharing their details with LinkedIn.

Just create an account, search for people you know, and add them to your network.

OMM 0000

OMM 0000 wrote: »

It wants the username/password for your e-mail accounts so it can access your contacts. Don't do that. You shouldn't be giving companies access to your e-mail accounts, and also your contacts may not want you sharing their details with LinkedIn.

Just create an account, search for people you know, and add them to your network.

No, it doesn't. You absolutely do not give LinkedIn the passwords to your email accounts. When you add an email they will send a verification to that address, you click a link in the email verification, and that is it.

OMM 0000

OMM 0000 wrote: »

It wants the username/password for your e-mail accounts so it can access your contacts. Don't do that. You shouldn't be giving companies access to your e-mail accounts, and also your contacts may not want you sharing their details with LinkedIn.

Just create an account, search for people you know, and add them to your network.

That’s a lie.

OMM 0000

OK, I just tried it, and it no longer requests your password, however it does connect to your e-mail account (you have to enter your email address and password) and it then looks up all your contacts and saves them.

This has clear privacy implications for your contacts, as LinkedIn are now mapping out who knows who. Maybe your contacts don't want people to know they're associated with you. Maybe they don't want LinkedIn building up a profile on them.

OMM 0000

Mr.S wrote: »

That's optional. You don't need to sync with your email account to scan for contacts already on Linkedin.

Yes, but the topic of this conversation is giving LinkedIn access to your e-mail contact list. I'm warning against it.

OMM 0000

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Yes, but the topic of this conversation is giving LinkedIn access to your e-mail contact list. I'm warning against it.

There’s not one bit of harm to anyone. All it does is let you know who is on LinkedIn from your contacts.

beauf

LinkedIn has been hacked before.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_LinkedIn_hack

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/linkedin-cyber-crime-gang-sextortion-email-scam-pornography-digital-shadows-a8789926.html%3famp

You would be wise to use a very long complex secure password unique to LinkedIn and even not use your main email at all. So that if it's gets hacked again it's not linked to your other online accounts.

Personally I don't use it except to see what others are doing. To much spam and noise on it for me.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

LinkedIn has been hacked before.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_LinkedIn_hack

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/linkedin-cyber-crime-gang-sextortion-email-scam-pornography-digital-shadows-a8789926.html%3famp

You would be wise to use a very long complex secure password unique to LinkedIn and even not use your main email at all. So that if it's gets hacked again it's not linked to your other online accounts.

Personally I don't use it except to see what others are doing. To much spam and noise on it for me.

LastPass determines my passwords but I do agree it’s gone to **** lately. Gone very Facebook.

I only use it to update the company page and keep in touch with recruiters with new jobs.

beauf

It's a bit extreme to go from "be smart with sharing your data" to "never use the internet".

There are known issues. Be smart. Be educated.

If there's an issue with keyless entry on cars. Do you suggest never using a car again?

The only people I see regularly active on LinkedIn are recruitment agencies, agents and people looking to promote themselves to who are job hunting. Maybe for others it's different.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

LinkedIn has been hacked before.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_LinkedIn_hack

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/linkedin-cyber-crime-gang-sextortion-email-scam-pornography-digital-shadows-a8789926.html%3famp

You would be wise to use a very long complex secure password unique to LinkedIn and even not use your main email at all. So that if it's gets hacked again it's not linked to your other online accounts.

Personally I don't use it except to see what others are doing. To much spam and noise on it for me.

Or you could just turn on 2 factor authentication.

beauf

Gibson Early Chalkboard wrote: »

Or you could just turn on 2 factor authentication.

That wouldn't help if the database is hacked and it's stored unencrypted and unsalted. Which happened the last time.

They are unlikely to make the same mistake again. But another site probably has and will be hacked. Which is why you should never use the same password twice and one password shouldn't make it easy to guess your other passwords. Also why you shouldn't use the same email for everything.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

That wouldn't help if the database is hacked and it's stored unencrypted and unsalted. Which happened the last time.

They are unlikely to make the same mistake again. But another site probably has and will be hacked. Which is why you should never use the same password twice and one password shouldn't make it easy to guess your other passwords. Also why you shouldn't use the same email for everything.

The entire point of 2FA is it stops someone accessing your account when they have your password.

But I agree on the rest of the stuff, I use Lastpass and let it generate/store all my passwords for me.

OMM 0000

Mr.S wrote: »

But there is no issue or high risk. You are choosing to do it, to display people you know that are already on Linkedin

Again - if you are worried about a privacy and profiling, avoid the internet

No, that's not true.

You are giving them your contacts - their name and e-mail address.

Why are you assuming they're on LinkedIn?

Using your logic - if I'm worried about privacy and profiling - I can do everything right (avoid all social media), yet you'll just give them my data anyway.

OMM 0000

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

There’s not one bit of harm to anyone. All it does is let you know who is on LinkedIn from your contacts.

That's not true.

"Big data" is being used to build profiles on people.

I used to be the CTO of an analytics company, and we did something similar.

Sensationalist example:

John, Mary, Sean, and Mohammed.

Mohammed is being watched by the police as he's suspected of being an ISIS sympathiser.

Mary is friends with him (e-mail contact) and she's also an ISIS sympathiser.

Sean is also an ISIS sympathiser, and is friends (e-mail contact) with Mary.

John is innocent. He's an e-mail contact of Mary and Sean.

John will now be a person of suspicion.

LinkedIn build profiles on these contacts (including getting data on them from third parties and crawling) and share/sell this data to third parties.

It's incredibly ****ty to force this on your friends, who may not want anything to do with LinkedIn, just because you're too lazy to browse LinkedIn to find your friends.

When you understand how all this works and how profiles are being created, you'll become like me and stop using any social media.

OMM 0000

OMM 0000 wrote: »

LinkedIn build profiles on these contacts (including getting data on them from third parties and crawling) and share/sell this data to third parties.

This is absolute rubbish, give one iota of evidence LinkedIn are selling your data. There's no way you were the CTO of anything. The reason LinkedIn are a business is they have data nobody else does. Selling it would be the single most counterproductive thing they could do in terms of their business model.

But as I said - where is your evidence.

beauf

Isn't that their business model though. You pay to access to their data via their data tools.

https://monetizepros.com/monetization-basics/how-does-linkedin-make-money/amp/

beauf

beauf wrote: »

Isn't that their business model though. You pay to access to their data via their data tools.

https://monetizepros.com/monetization-basics/how-does-linkedin-make-money/amp/

Recruiter is basically a really fancy and granular way of searching LinkedIn, and it will surface people who have created LinkedIn accounts only, and is searchable based on information people have volunteered and put up in public on their LinkedIn profile. It is not scraping peoples email contacts and returning data on people who have not set up a LinkedIn account, that is 100% false.

tdf7187

I do not trust Linkedin in the slightest and find it incredible that it is now considered almost compulsory to have a Linkedin account.

beauf

Gibson Early Chalkboard wrote: »

Recruiter is basically a really fancy and granular way of searching LinkedIn, and it will surface people who have created LinkedIn accounts only, and is searchable based on information people have volunteered and put up in public on their LinkedIn profile. It is not scraping peoples email contacts and returning data on people who have not set up a LinkedIn account, that is 100% false.

I'm not referring to OMM 0000 comment.

Just that in general LinkedIn is selling data. Data you have agreed to put up there. It is using your contacts to suggest relationships though. Similarly to how faceache does. You can see how is algorithm is thinking though in the suggestions it makes. It's not rocket science, but it is data science though. Then its main income is using this for recruitment tools.

I'm sure it must also leverage the statistical information it gathers as some sort of income stream. Though how significant this is in terms of revenue I have no idea.

beauf

tdf7187 wrote: »

I do not trust Linkedin in the slightest and find it incredible that it is now considered almost compulsory to have a Linkedin account.

Usually those with most to gain from it. Certain Agencies and HR departments.

OMM 0000

Gibson Early Chalkboard wrote: »

This is absolute rubbish, give one iota of evidence LinkedIn are selling your data. There's no way you were the CTO of anything. The reason LinkedIn are a business is they have data nobody else does. Selling it would be the single most counterproductive thing they could do in terms of their business model.

But as I said - where is your evidence.

You have no understanding of technology. And you can't even remain civil. So we all know, no matter what I reply, you'll move the goalposts and dig your feet in further. So obviously I'd be a fool to waste anymore time talking to someone like you.

OMM 0000

Just throwing this out there:

Are people aware Facebook do the exact same thing? Shadow profiles, buying and selling your data, etc.

Wanderer19

It's quite simple, don't put anything on the internet that you don't want other people to know, and don't give sites/businesses access to your passwords or any thing els that they don't need.

Dravokivich

I never could get why people would use work e-mails for private stuff. You change jobs, than that email is gone for you. Just use your private email.

Dravokivich

Gibson Early Chalkboard wrote: »

The entire point of 2FA is it stops someone accessing your account when they have your password.

But I agree on the rest of the stuff, I use Lastpass and let it generate/store all my passwords for me.

It isnt always the best way of securing the account. And 2FA can make it harder for you to regain access to it.

beauf

2FA does help. But if they got the info from LinkedIn they probably have a bunch of other information. Bit of social engineering, and they are past 2FA.

The risk though is if you use the same or similar passwords across sites.

beauf

Dravokivich wrote: »

I never could get why people would use work e-mails for private stuff. You change jobs, than that email is gone for you. Just use your private email.

People are lazy.

Reebrock

Thanks for all the help in this topic guys and gals, really appreciated.


Will be setting up the LinkedIn account tonight as I have some time. One more thing I'm interested to know - when I enter my email address into LinkedIn to find friends and colleagues who I can connect with - I assume that goes both ways?

Is there a way it can be one sided, i.e. stop my own discovery? i.e. say I didn't want XYZ to know about what I am setting up.