LinkedIn claims broad rights to use your content worldwide and can sublicense it to others, with the license surviving even after you delete specific content in some cases. They disclaim most liability and limit damages to $1000 or fees paid. However, they do provide some user control over content visibility and the content license does end when you close your account.
The Bottom Line
LinkedIn claims broad rights to use your content worldwide and can sublicense it to others, with the license surviving even after you delete specific content in some cases. They disclaim most liability and limit damages to $1000 or fees paid. However, they do provide some user control over content visibility and the content license does end when you close your account.
Get notified when LinkedIn updates their TOS
We'll email you what changed and what it means.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Notable Clauses
“You grant LinkedIn and our Affiliates the following non-exclusive license to the content and other information you provide (e.g., share, post, upload, and/or otherwise submit) to our Services: A worldwide, transferable and sublicensable right to use, copy, modify, distribute, publicly perform and di...”
“You can end this license for specific content by deleting such content from the Services, or generally by closing your account, except (a) to the extent you (1) shared it with others as part of the Services and they copied, re-shared it or stored it, (2) we had already sublicensed others prior to yo...”
“TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, LINKEDIN AND ITS AFFILIATES DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, ACCURACY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.”
“LINKEDIN AND ITS AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CONTRACT FOR ANY AMOUNT THAT EXCEEDS (A) THE TOTAL FEES PAID OR PAYABLE BY YOU TO LINKEDIN FOR THE SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF THIS CONTRACT, IF ANY, OR (B) US $1000.”
“LinkedIn reserves the right to restrict, suspend, or terminate your account if you breach this Contract or the law or are misusing the Services (e.g., violating any of the Dos and Don'ts or Professional Community Policies ).”
“You can end this license for specific content by deleting such content from the Services, or generally by closing your account, except (a) to the extent you (1) shared it with others as part of the Services and they copied, re-shared it or stored it, (2) we had already sublicensed others prior to yo...”
“Where we have made settings available, we will honor the choices you make about who can see content or other information (e.g., message content to your addressees, sharing content only to LinkedIn connections, restricting your profile visibility from search tools, or opting not to notify others of y...”
Protect Yourself
ACTIONABLESettings and actions you can take to limit your exposure
Set Content Sharing to Connections Only
Limit who can see your posts and updates to reduce how widely your content is shared and potentially sublicensed
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Privacy tab → Visibility section
- Set 'Who can see your posts' to 'Connections only'
- Turn off 'Notify your network when you change your profile'
Restrict Profile Visibility in Search
Prevent your profile from appearing in public search engines and reduce discoverability
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Privacy tab → Visibility section
- Turn off 'Public profile & network'
- Set 'Edit your public profile' visibility options to minimal
Download Your Data Before Making Changes
Get a copy of all your content and connections before LinkedIn's license terms apply to any changes
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Privacy tab → How LinkedIn uses your data
- Click 'Download your data'
- Select 'Request archive' and wait for the download link
Turn Off Social Actions in Ads
Prevent your likes, comments, and follows from being shown in ads to other people
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Data privacy tab
- Click 'Advertising data' section
- Turn off 'Social actions used for advertising purposes'
Limit Profile Views and Connections Visibility
Control who can see your connection list and whether you appear in 'People you may know' suggestions
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Privacy tab → Visibility section
- Set 'Who can see your connections' to 'Only you'
- Turn off 'People you may know' visibility
Disclaimer:The clauses shown above are excerpts from publicly available Terms of Service documents. Ratings and severity levels reflect community and AI assessment, not legal advice, factual claims, or determinations about a company's legality or intent. Clauses marked “VERIFIED” have been confirmed as exact quotes from the source document. Clauses marked “AI-extracted” were identified by AI and may contain errors. Always verify against the original TOS.
Get notified when LinkedIn updates their TOS
We'll email you what changed and what it means
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.