When you sign up for LinkedIn, you provide your email address and other personal information to create your profile. Naturally, this raises questions around how private and secure that information is within LinkedIn’s platform. Here we’ll examine what LinkedIn’s privacy policies say about your email address and other profile data, how LinkedIn uses your email, and steps you can take to keep your email more private on LinkedIn.
What does LinkedIn’s privacy policy say about your email address?
According to LinkedIn’s privacy policy, they consider your email address and other registration information like your name and location to be “Public Profile Fields.” This means LinkedIn considers this information public by default and allows it to be visible to others on the platform.
However, the privacy policy says you can adjust your settings to control the visibility of your email address and other public profile fields. You have options to show your email to your 1st-degree connections only, 2nd-degree connections, or choose “Private mode” to avoid showing your email on your profile entirely.
Other key points on email privacy per LinkedIn’s policy:
- LinkedIn may use your email and profile data for services like customized ads, suggestions, and invitations.
- They may share non-identifiable versions of your info with partners like advertisers.
- Your email could be accessed by 3rd party apps or partners you’ve connected with through LinkedIn.
- Law enforcement may request access to profile data like email via subpoena or court order.
So in summary, LinkedIn’s default settings make your email address visible to others in your network. But you can adjust privacy controls to limit its exposure.
How does LinkedIn use your email address?
LinkedIn uses your email address in a few key ways:
Account management
Firstly, LinkedIn relies on your email to manage your account. Your email serves as your username when logging in. LinkedIn also uses it to send you important account notifications, verification codes, password reset emails, and other account management communications.
Sharing profile and activity updates
As mentioned in their privacy policy, LinkedIn may share notifications and updates regarding your profile and activity via the email address associated with your account. For example, getting alerts when someone views your profile or endorsement notifications.
Customized marketing and advertisements
LinkedIn’s privacy policy states they may use your personal information like email to infer your preferences and interests and serve you customized ads and sponsored content. Your email helps LinkedIn build a profile related to your demographics and behavior on the platform.
Outbound marketing and newsletter emails
Additionally, by providing your email address upon signup, you are automatically opted in to receive LinkedIn’s marketing emails and newsletters. These promotional and update emails are sent to your email inbox directly.
Data for analytics and product improvement
LinkedIn also may leverage non-identifiable data about members to carry out analytics and product improvements. Your email address and usage data would provide helpful context to improve LinkedIn’s features and offerings over time.
Steps to keep your email more private on LinkedIn
If you want to limit the exposure and use of your email address on LinkedIn, here are a few steps to consider:
1. Update your profile visibility settings
Go into your account Privacy & Settings and adjust your profile visibility for your email address. Options include:
- Visible only to your 1st-degree connections
- Visible to 2nd-degree connections
- Visible to 3rd-degree connections
- Private mode – not visible to anyone
Setting your email visibility to just 1st connections or private mode limits exposure.
2. Turn off customized ads
You can go into your Advertising preferences and disable ” advertisements that are customized based on your inferred demographics, interests and other profile data.” This limits LinkedIn from using your email and activity for ad targeting.
3. Unsubscribe from emails
When receiving marketing or newsletter emails from LinkedIn, use the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom to opt-out of future emails of that type. This limits promotional emails to just essential account emails.
4. Be selective when connecting with apps
Be thoughtful about which third-party apps or services you choose to link with your LinkedIn account. Avoid connecting apps that seem suspicious or that request too much profile data access.
5. Use a unique email address
Consider using a unique email address just for your LinkedIn account rather than your primary personal or work email. This segments the email notifications and advertisements you may get from LinkedIn separate from other important emails.
Pros and cons of having a public email on LinkedIn
There are some advantages and disadvantages to keeping your email public on your LinkedIn profile:
Potential advantages
- Allows people to easily contact you for career opportunities
- Shows you have nothing to hide and are open to communication
- Provides an additional way for people to find and connect with you
Potential disadvantages
- Increases unsolicited outreach, spam, and sales pitches in your inbox
- Exposes your corporate email publicly if using work address
- Associates your email with your identity, location, employer, and other details
Email privacy best practices on LinkedIn
To maximize privacy while still getting value from LinkedIn, consider these best practices:
- Use a unique email address just for your LinkedIn account
- Set profile visibility to “Connections only” for email access
- Be selective in connecting with 3rd party apps
- Customize ad preferences to limit targeting
- Use 2-factor authentication for added security
- Don’t post your email publicly in content or forums
- Unsubscribe from non-essential LinkedIn emails
- Periodically review privacy settings and connected apps
Conclusion
LinkedIn allows you to control the visibility and use of your email address through its privacy settings. While LinkedIn considers your email public by default, you can customize options to keep it more private and prevent your inbox from being overwhelmed with notifications. By taking steps like updating visibility, customizing ad preferences, and unsubscribing from emails, you can maximize privacy without completely sacrificing the business benefits of membership.
Additionally, employing best practices like using a unique LinkedIn email address and being cautious when connecting with third-party apps will help keep your main personal and work inboxes protected. Overall, with some slight adjustments to preferences and thoughtful account management, you can find the right balance of value and privacy for your email address on LinkedIn.
Visibility Setting | Who Can See Email |
---|---|
Public | All LinkedIn members |
Connections only | Your 1st degree connections |
Private mode | Only you |
This table summarizes the three main visibility settings for your email address on your LinkedIn profile and who exactly can see your email for each option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I permanently delete my email from LinkedIn?
No, you cannot permanently delete the email address associated with your LinkedIn account. Your email serves as your account username and is needed for LinkedIn to manage your account. However, you can set your email visibility to “Private” so that it is not displayed on your profile.
Is my LinkedIn email visible in Google search results?
It depends. If your email visibility is set to “Public”, then your email address may be indexed and surface in Google search results for your name. For maximum privacy, change the setting to “Private” to avoid your email being visible in public search engine results.
Can someone message me on LinkedIn without seeing my email?
Yes, LinkedIn members can send you InMail messages through LinkedIn without needing access to your actual email address. So you can still receive professional messages and opportunities even with your email set to private.
What if I want to make my email public again later?
No problem. You can change your LinkedIn profile visibility settings for your email address at any time. Just go back into your account Privacy & Settings and update the visibility level for your email as desired.
Is there a way to have my email partially obscured on my profile?
Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not offer an option to show your email in a partially obscured or cloaked way (ex: [email protected]). The visibility options are to either show the full email address or keep it totally private. If you want to partially obscure it, your best option is using a unique LinkedIn email address that does not reveal too much personal detail.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn considers your email public profile information by default upon sign up.
- You can control email visibility and use via LinkedIn’s privacy settings.
- Keep email private to limit unsolicited outreach and usage for marketing.
- Using a unique LinkedIn email address can help maintain some privacy.
- Periodically review settings and connected apps to ensure continued privacy.