LinkedInMicrosoft’s professional social network has received a formal request for information (RFI) from the European Union Learn how your algorithm works before April 5th. The Commission would like to take this opportunity Monitor the advertising algorithm and use of data for ad targeting on your platform.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) contains a set of rules aimed at risk management, transparency and accountability of algorithms on online platforms. LinkedIn has raised alarm bells at the Commission about what could happen Using sensitive data for ad targeting within their platform.
According to the DSA, data that falls into categories of personal data, e.g Health information, political, religious or philosophical opinions, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or trade union membership. Therefore, the professional social network could use some of this data to create profiles and target ads based on them.
In a press release, the Commission explained that it was requesting this “More details about how your service complies with the ban on displaying advertising based on profiles that use special categories of personal data.”. And he recalled that LinkedIn, as a large online platform, had to do this “adhere to all the provisions introduced by the DSA, including the obligation to allow users to identify basic information about the nature and origin of an advertisement and the prohibition of displaying advertising based on profiling using special categories of data such as sexual orientation , political opinions or race.
They spoke to a LinkedIn spokesperson via the news portal TechCrunch, who replied via email that they will work with the European Commission and that they comply with the DSA.
A request for information is an initial investigation and does not presuppose any further decisions by the Commission in the future. However, this request is believed to be related to a complaint from EDRi and its partners Global Witness, Society for Civil Rights and Bits of Freedom, which they submitted to the European Commission about a possible violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by LinkedIn. They explain it in there “We have raised concerns that LinkedIn, a platform designated by the DSA as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP), is violating the DSA’s new ban on targeting online advertising based on profiles using sensitive categories of personal data such as Sexuality, political opinions or race.
Failure to comply with the DSA may result in fines of up to 6% of annual global sales or even penalties for providing false, incomplete or misleading information in response to an RFI. If LinkedIn is fined, it will face a fine. Payment of $828.96 million.