LinkedIn · LinkedIn User Agreement

Prohibition on Scraping and Automated Data Collection

Medium severity
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What it is

You are not allowed to use any automated tools, bots, or scripts to collect data from LinkedIn — this includes scraping profiles, downloading contacts, or automating any activity on the platform.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Individual users who use browser extensions, automation tools, or third-party apps that interact with LinkedIn data may be violating the terms of service and risk account suspension or termination.

How other platforms handle this

Apple Medium

Location information. Precise location only with your permission — for example, for features like Find My or Maps. Some location-related functionality uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cell tower locations, as well as GPS. Location can also be inferred from other data such as an IP address.

Netflix Medium

In certain instances, Customer Service may best be able to assist you by using a remote access support tool through which we have full access to your computer. If you do not want us to have this access, you should not consent to support through the remote access tool, and we will assist you through ...

Wise Medium

We will disclose information to third parties about your account or the transfers you make: (i) where it is necessary for completing transfers, or (ii) in order to verify the existence and condition of your account for a third party, such as a credit bureau or merchant, or (iii) in order to comply w...

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

This clause broadly prohibits automated data collection, which affects not just bad actors but also researchers, journalists, and businesses that rely on LinkedIn data — and LinkedIn has actively enforced this through litigation.

View original clause language
You agree that you will not... Scrape or copy profiles and other data from our Services through any means (including crawlers, browser plugins and add-ons, and any other technology or manual work); ... Use bots or other automated methods to access the Services, add or download contacts, send or redirect messages... Develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plugins and add-ons, and any other technology) to scrape the Services or otherwise copy profiles and other data from the Services.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: LinkedIn's anti-scraping provision is enforced under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. §1030), the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and breach of contract claims. The landmark hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn Corp. litigation (9th Cir. 2022) established that scraping publicly available LinkedIn data may not violate the CFAA but does breach the User Agreement. EU GDPR Art. 6 governs whether scraped personal data can be lawfully processed by third parties. The EU's Database Directive (96/9/EC) protects LinkedIn's database rights against unauthorized extraction.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has jurisdiction over unfair or deceptive practices related to data collection from social platforms under FTC Act Section 5.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

EU AI Act
European Union
BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
DMA
European Union
FCRA
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
GLBA
United States Federal
HIPAA
United States Federal
TCPA
United States Federal
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
LinkedIn User Agreement
Entity
LinkedIn
Document last updated
March 24, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 15, 2026
Last verified
April 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002596
Document ID
CA-D-00091
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
187484d810e3070b833f2ad255c960414e889938ea3e1b67143d488a662c60f6
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: LinkedIn | Document: LinkedIn User Agreement | Record: CA-P-002596
Captured: 2026-03-15 11:07:03 UTC | SHA-256: 187484d810e3070b…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/linkedin/linkedin-user-agreement/prohibition-on-scraping-and-automated-data-collection/
Accessed: April 29, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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