LinkedIn Accused of Extensive Browser Surveillance In "BrowserGate" Report

#Who they are (according to BrowserGate)

BrowserGate describes Fairlinked e.V. as an association representing commercial users of LinkedIn, including professionals, businesses relying on the platform, and developers building tools around it.

According to BrowserGate, the initiative itself is an investigation and campaign aimed at documenting what it characterizes as a large-scale corporate espionage and data breach scandal. It states that its goals are to inform the public and regulators, gather evidence, and raise funding for potential legal action.

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#What BrowserGate claims to have found

#Alleged large-scale personal data breach

BrowserGate reports that LinkedIn conducts browser-based scans that allegedly reveal sensitive personal data about users. This includes, according to their findings, indicators of religious beliefs, political opinions, disabilities, and job-seeking activity.

They claim that:

• certain browser extensions can indicate religious affiliation (e.g., identifying practicing Muslims),
• others may reveal political orientation or neurodivergence,
• and hundreds of job-search tools could expose users who are discreetly looking for employment.

BrowserGate argues that this type of data falls under categories that are strictly prohibited to process under EU law without explicit consent, and claims that LinkedIn neither discloses nor obtains consent for such practices.

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#Allegations of corporate espionage

BrowserGate further claims that LinkedIn scans users' browsers for tools that compete with its own services, naming products such as Apollo, Lusha, and ZoomInfo.

According to the report:

• LinkedIn could theoretically identify which companies use competing tools,
• this would allow mapping of customer relationships across thousands of businesses,
• and such data may have been used to target users with enforcement actions against third-party tools.

BrowserGate characterizes this as extraction of trade-sensitive information without user awareness.

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#Claims of misleading EU regulatory compliance

BrowserGate also criticizes LinkedIn's response to its designation as a "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

It reports that:

• LinkedIn presented limited external APIs to regulators as compliance measures,
• while allegedly relying on a much more powerful internal system (referred to as "Voyager") that is not disclosed in regulatory reporting,
• and that the scale of third-party tool surveillance has significantly increased over time.

BrowserGate interprets this as a discrepancy between formal compliance claims and actual platform behavior.

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#Allegations of undisclosed third-party data sharing

According to BrowserGate, LinkedIn integrates multiple tracking and fingerprinting mechanisms, including:

• an invisible tracking element from HUMAN Security,
• internal fingerprinting scripts,
• and additional scripts from Google.

They claim these systems operate without clear disclosure and involve encrypted data transmission to external parties.

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#Why BrowserGate says it needs support

BrowserGate frames the issue as a legal and regulatory challenge, stating that Microsoft, LinkedIn's parent company, has extensive legal resources.

It claims to already possess evidence and states that additional public support and funding are necessary to pursue accountability through legal channels.

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Source: BrowserGate Executive Summary