Part I of the “LinkedIn Privacy Series” from PrivacyMatters2u & SummerSnow Publications
Part II: How to Stay Safe on LinkedIn - 5 Critical Privacy Settings You Need Now
Part III: Not Comfortable With the Data Risks? Here’s How to Delete LinkedIn
As a part of launching SummerSnow Publications and PrivacyMatters2u, I reignited my LinkedIn site and began engaging with it again. Almost immediately, I started receiving texts and phone calls offering me jobs, most all of them sketch.
My otherwise spam free life (whoo hoo Privacy Pup!), became cluttered with unwanted solicitations and creepy ads. And the phishing attempts? They were terrifyingly accurate with their information.
Why LinkedIn Is a Goldmine for Scammers
Because LinkedIn is full of real names, photos, work histories, and job titles, it’s a goldmine for scams, fake recruiters and impersonation. If someone wants to pretend to be you, LinkedIn gives them a great head start.
Here’s a recent example: The president of one of the boards I’m on seemingly asked me to Venmo her money on behalf of the nonprofit to get the organization out of a financial difficulty. She promised to pay me back by the end of the day. It was addressed to me, signed by her, and mentioned the organization specifically.
Of course, the email wasn’t legit, and I have no way to prove it’s because of my recent engagement with LinkedIn, but I’ve never had such a customized phishing attempt before.
LinkedIn’s Business Model: Your Data
Shook, I read LinkedIn’s privacy policy, and discovered one of the more data-hungry platforms I've come across. I thought I could write a single blog about LinkedIn, but what I found out could be a novella.
Whether you signed up for LinkedIn years ago and forgot about it or use it everyday to connect and expand your networks, LinkedIn is a surveillance-based social media platform that makes money from your data. Even if you barely use it, it’s still collecting and keeping information about you - and about others.
LinkedIn tracks what you click, read, and search. It builds a behavioral profile behind the scenes and uses it to target you with ads for jobs, companies, and more.
What Happens When You Upload Your Contacts to LinkedIn
I also discovered that at some point, I had uploaded my contacts to LinkedIn making it super easy for phishing attempts like the one mentioned above. At the time I signed up, I had no clue about the danger.
I had no idea that by uploading my contacts, LinkedIn could build profiles of people who’ve never even signed up (often referred to as ‘shadow profiles’ in the privacy world).
Nor did I realize my contacts would be used by LinkedIn to train algorithms to target connections and ads for those who engaged in the platform.
My uploaded contacts were increasing everyone’s exposure to spam and scams and being mined to send targeted phishing and robocalls. All this without my contacts consent.
The good news is LinkedIn no longer imports your mobile address book or syncs your phone address book. The bad news is they already have the contacts you uploaded in the past. For your sake and mine, let’s get rid of them.
How to Delete Your Contacts from LinkedIn
If you plan to delete LinkedIn, be sure to delete your contacts first. If you want to stay on LinkedIn, be assured that deleting contacts does not remove your connections and networks you’ve purposely set up — only contact data used for suggestions and outreach. Your experience of the platform will remain the same
💻 On Desktop or Mobile Browser
- Sign in to Linked In
- Click on the circle labelled Me on top right hand corner
- Click on Settings & Privacy
- Click Account preferences.
- Scroll down to Syncing options, and click on Sync contacts.
- Click Remove all next to Contacts.
📱 In the LinkedIn App
- Open the LinkedIn app
- Tap the round icon on upper left with your profile photo
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Settings
- Tap Account preferences
- Scroll down to Syncing options and tap Sync contacts
- Tap Manage all synced sources
- Tap Contacts and then Remove all
LinkedIn states that your contacts will be deleted immediately.
🎉 Bonus: Remove LinkedIn's Access To Your Calendar
One little nugget of many from LinkedIn’s privacy policy:
If you sync your calendars with our Services, we will collect your calendar meeting information to keep growing your network by suggesting connections for you and others, and by providing information about events, e.g. times, places, attendees and contacts.
Um. No thanks. I don’t want LinkedIn to know who I meet with and when.
To remove calendar access, follow the same steps as for contact deletion, but choose Calendar instead, then click Remove all.
Does Deleting My Contacts Affect My LinkedIn Experience?
Not in the ways that matter.You’ll still have all your purposeful connections and network. What you lose are the privacy-invasive suggestions and contact-based targeting. You won’t miss them.
Next Up: How to Keep Using LinkedIn Without Sacrificing Your Privacy
Stay tuned for Part II: Help! LinkedIn’s a great networking tool — How to stay safe on LinkedIn
And if you’re done with the platform altogether (I wish I could be!), don’t worry. Part III covers exactly how to delete your LinkedIn account and wipe your data trail.
This post reflects my personal experience and understanding of LinkedIn’s practices as of July 2025. For the latest information, consult LinkedIn’s official privacy policy.
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Disclaimer: The above is solely intended for informational purposes and in no way constitutes legal advice or specific recommendations.