LinkedIn ‘add connections’ lawsuit means it might owe you money
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Version 0 of 1. LinkedIn just settled a class-action lawsuit for sending too many emails. The professional social network has denied all wrongdoing but agreed to pay $13 million to compensate the users signed in on its “Add Connections” features. This means that you might be eligible for a pay-out. What exactly is “Add Connections”? The “Add Connections” feature has basically allowed LinkedIn to import your contacts from external email accounts and then send invitation to your entire address book. The multiple messages would remind your friend, colleagues or acquaintances that you want them to be part of your “personal network”. If a connection invitation was not accepted within a certain period of time, up to two “reminder emails” were sent reminding the recipients that the connection invitation is pending. Sounds annoying – but was it illegal? Users first sued LinkedIn in California in2013, claiming “Add Connections” violated their right of privacy and was an unfair business practice. The Court found that members consented to importing their contacts and sending the connection invitation, but did not find that members consented to LinkedIn sending the two reminder emails. LinkedIn did try to get the lawsuit thrown out of the court, but in 2014 a federal judge ruled they can go forward “Specifically, the second and third endorsement emails could injure users’ reputations by allowing contacts to think that the users are the types of people who spam their contacts or are unable to take the hint that their contacts do not want to join their LinkedIn network,” US District Jude Lucy Koh said. As a result LinkedIn chose to pay rather than fight in court. Pay who – me? Possibly. LinkedIn has denied all wrongdoing, but you might still eligible for pay-out. People who used “add connections” between September 17, 2011 and October 31 2014 are eligible. LinkedIn sent an email to eligible users on Friday notifying them of the settlement. How much money can I claim ? Depending on how many people file the claims, those eligible can claim up to $1,500, though it will likely be less (as little as $10). If the final sum of any of the claimants results in an individual pay-out of less than $10, LinkedIn has agreed to add an additional $750,000 to the overall fund. Claims must be filed before December 14, 2015, and there will be a final approval hearing on February 11, 2016. How do I do this ? Those who qualify received an email from LinkedIn with an ID to file. The claim can be filed using this number here. What if I can’t find the email form LinkedIn? If you deleted it or never received the email but you think that you should be included, you can visit this website created by the lawyers especially for this case. What’s the catch? On the claim form you must swear - under penalty of perjury - that you were indeed a user of “Add Connections” during the time spam. So if you are slightly annoyed by LinkedIn emails but you aren’t sure if you used the feature yourself, it is worth checking twice. |