LinkedIn is a professional social networking site used by millions of people to connect with colleagues, find jobs, build their professional brand, and more. With so much personal and professional information shared on LinkedIn profiles and pages, many users wonder – is my LinkedIn page private?
Quick Answer
LinkedIn gives you options to control the privacy settings for your profile and activity on the platform. By default, your LinkedIn profile is public and can be viewed by anyone on the internet. However, you can change your profile visibility to be visible only to your connections or to a customized list of connections. Overall, LinkedIn pages are considered semi-private, with options to limit profile visibility but a default setting of being public.
Is My LinkedIn Profile Public or Private?
When you first create a LinkedIn profile, it is set to public visibility by default. This allows anyone on the internet to view your LinkedIn profile, whether they are a member of LinkedIn or not. With a public profile, people can see your work experience, education, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and any other information you have added to your profile.
Having a public profile has some benefits on LinkedIn:
- Increases discoverability – recruiters, hiring managers, and business connections can easily find you
- Builds your professional brand – showcases your background to a wide audience
- Gets you noticed by recruiters – makes you visible for new job opportunities
However, a public profile also means that people you may not know or want to connect with can view your profile. This could include identity thieves, scammers, nosy colleagues, etc. For many LinkedIn users, this is enough reason to want to make their profiles more private.
How to Make LinkedIn Profile Private
If you want to make your LinkedIn profile less public, you have a few options:
- Change profile visibility to Connections only – limits profile viewing to 1st-degree connections
- Customize visibility to your preferences – choose specific connections or groups who can view profile
- Block your profile from search engines – prevents people from finding your profile via Google or Bing
To change these settings, go to the Privacy & Settings section of your account settings on LinkedIn. Here you can adjust profile visibility and other privacy options.
Connections Only Visibility
Changing your profile visibility to Connections only means that only people who are 1st-degree connections in your LinkedIn network can view your full profile. This includes connections who have sent or accepted invitations to connect. Recruiters who you are not connected to will only see your name, headline, location, industry, school, photo (if added), and current position.
Custom Profile Visibility
For more control, you can customize exactly which connections are able to view your full profile. Options include:
- Only you
- Your connections
- Your network (connections of your connections)
- All LinkedIn members
You can also build customizable lists of connections to control visibility. For example, you may only want current coworkers or classmates to view your full profile.
Block Search Engines
Another way to privatize your LinkedIn profile is to prevent it from being indexed by search engines like Google or Bing. This means people will not be able to search for you and find your profile in the search results.
To do this, go to your Privacy & Settings and toggle the search engine visibility setting to “No.” This will remove your profile from search engine results pages. However, people can still view your profile if they have a direct link or are within your network.
Are My LinkedIn Activities Private?
In addition to your profile visibility, you can also control some privacy settings for your activity on LinkedIn:
- Likes, comments, shares, etc. – Choose whether to share publicly or just with your connections
- Articles you read – Keep your reading history private or make it public
- Groups you join – Control if groups are public or private on your profile
- Ads you engage with – Limit ad tracking and targeting
- Search history – Have search history tracked or keep it private
Adjust these settings in Privacy & Settings to customize what activity is visible to others on LinkedIn. You can choose to share more publicly to build your professional brand, or limit visibility to only connections for more privacy.
Are My Messages Private?
Direct messages you send or receive via LinkedIn’s messaging platform are private conversations.
LinkedIn states that they do not share the content of your private conversations without your consent. The message contents and recipient details are kept confidential by LinkedIn.
However, LinkedIn may collect metadata and usage data related to your messaging activity. This is used to improve their products and services. Data collected may include:
- Date and time you sent messages
- Number of messages sent
- Your device type
- IP address
While metadata may be collected, the actual content and details of your private LinkedIn messages are not shared with any other members or entities by LinkedIn without your explicit consent.
Are My Connections Private?
Your LinkedIn connections are considered private and are only visible to you and your 1st-degree connections by default. The only information about your connections that is public is the total number of connections you have.
You can choose to customize your settings to share your connections more openly. Settings include:
- Visible to only you (most private)
- Visible to 3rd+ degree connections
- Visible to 2nd degree connections
- Visible to 1st degree connections (default)
- Visible to everyone (public)
However, your connections’ privacy settings also apply. For example, if you make your connections public but a connection keeps their connections private, only shared connections will be visible.
It’s best to keep your connections visible only to 1st-degree connections by default. This allows you to control your network privacy while still using LinkedIn effectively for networking and opportunities.
Is My LinkedIn Network Private?
Your extended network on LinkedIn has tiered levels of privacy:
- 1st-degree connections – Fully connected. You can view profiles and activity. Default setting.
- 2nd-degree connections – Connections of your 1st-degree connections. You can send InMail messages.
- 3rd-degree connections – Connections of 2nd-degree connections. You can request introductions via a shared 1st-degree connection.
Beyond 3rd-degree connections, you do not have any visibility into other members’ extended networks. Profiles and activity of members outside your 3rd-degree network are private and not accessible.
You can expand your network visibility by changing your settings. However, keep in mind other members’ privacy settings will also impact what and who you can see.
Can I See Who Views My LinkedIn Profile?
LinkedIn does not provide information about who specifically is viewing your profile. However, you can see aggregated, anonymized data on profile views.
On your LinkedIn profile, navigate to see who’s viewed your profile. Here you will find data on:
- Total number of profile views in past 90 days
- Countries profile viewers are from
- Industries and companies viewers work in
- Most popular content viewed by profile visitors
While this provides useful insight into the level of interest in your profile, it does not identify individual viewers. LinkedIn keeps profile visitors anonymous to protect privacy.
Can I Hide My LinkedIn Profile From Specific Connections?
LinkedIn does not allow you to hide your profile from specific connections. However, there are a couple workaround options:
- Remove the connection – You can delete a connection from your network so they no longer have access as a 1st-degree connection.
- Block the member – Use LinkedIn’s blocking feature to prevent a member from viewing your profile and contacting you.
Other options like customizing visibility lists or restricting to 2nd+ degree connections will not single out specific connections. Removing problematic connections or blocking members is the best way to limit certain individuals.
Conclusion
LinkedIn allows users to balance building an influential professional brand with maintaining privacy. By leveraging profile visibility settings, activity sharing preferences, and network access, you can determine what information is shared publicly versus kept private.
Key takeaways include:
- Profiles are public by default but can be restricted
- Activity sharing and ad targeting can be customized
- Messages and network connections are kept private
- Individual profile viewers are not identified
- Removing connections or blocking members limits access
While LinkedIn is considered semi-private, you have control over what information you share and who can view your profile. Adjust settings appropriately for your preferences and comfort level.