LinkedIn will scan the browser to identify extensions

https://prophitt.me/a-look-at-how-linkedin-exfiltrates-extension-data-from-your-browser

by youeseh • 6 years ago

52 16 6 years ago

So in an effort to thwart scraping of LinkedIn data, they're actively scraping the local browser of every single user.

polotics• 6 years ago

How do you know the purpose is to prevent scraping? It could be some general marketing drive or general snoop for whatever other invented privacy invasive reason.

postalrat2• 6 years ago

Because linkedin has been involved in a few lawsuits to try to stop people from user's data from their site. And the browser extensions they scan for are scraping extensions.

cooljacob204• 6 years ago

I figured it was to help them track users.

postalrat2• 6 years ago

I have a hard time calling it linkedin's data when it belongs to the users.

I may be wrong here but I assume linkedin's user's don't have a strong preference if their data is searchable by anyone or just people who pay linkedin thousands of dollars for one of their paid accounts.

saagarjha2• 6 years ago

s/will scan/is scanning/?

atleta• 6 years ago

Yes, that's what it means. They do scan when/if you visit them. I'm not a native, but "is scanning" doesn't sound right here because it means that it's happening right now. However, the title says "the browser" (i.e. the browser of whoever visits) and that is not happening right now, only when that browser does visit. So, I'd say that "is scanning" should go with "browsers" (i.e. they are scanning the browsers in general, not a specific browser).

But anyway, the sentence means what you think it should :).

saagarjha2• 6 years ago

In general, the working assumption is that this would be limited to LinkedIn's own website, or I suspect this would be a much larger issue ;) The way I interpreted the title is "LinkedIn will do this in the future" rather than "LinkedIn is doing this now if you use their website".

yumraj• 6 years ago

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but for last 1-2 days I've noticed that whenever I open a LinkedIn tab, my MBP Fan goes in overdrive. Verified that it's LinkedIn by checking activity monitor.

Gys• 6 years ago

LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. These things make me very hesitant using Github (another Microsoft outlet) more. First make it dominant then milk it to the bone?

Phrenzy• 6 years ago

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.

They have been doing it for years.

agrd00• 6 years ago

I just interviewed with GH and they claimed MS hasn’t interfered, having learned lessons from earlier buyouts.

Sounds like it was more of a goodwill gesture to stabilize a resource important to the internet.

Tbh LinkedIn could very well have bubbled this up if their culture was untouched. Never really seemed like much more than Facebook curated for professional profile content. Pretty like minded sort of snooping, IMO.

Not saying MS isn’t interfering and GH is selling a line. Also no evidence this isn’t just LinkedIn hiring the same kind of people. They’re kind of all over.

kevin_thibedeau• 6 years ago

Standard procedure on acquisitions is to not rock the boat in the first few years to keep the institutional knowledge from fleeing. Then you borgify with new management.

osipovas• 6 years ago

Can we get a 2019 in the title?

dang• 6 years ago

Large previous discussions:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20214752

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18853607

Zanfa• 6 years ago

I guess this partially explains why LinkedIn is the worst performing website/SPA that I (have to) use on a regular basis.

LinkedIn will scan the browser to identify extensions

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