LinkedIn agrees to a $13 million settlement

LinkedIn will no longer send multiple emails prompting users to connect to people in their network.

LinkedIn has settled a class action lawsuit for sending spam-like emails to customers by paying $13 million for the users who signed up for “Add Connections feature” between September 2011 and October 2014, according to Fortune.

The “Add Connections” feature on LinkedIn gave the service permission to access users’ email address book and send multiple messages reminding users they want to be a part of their personal network.

“I think the whole thing is kind of sad,” Burt Smith, professor of marketing and management said. “Because anytime that an organization violates the trust of its customers there’s going to be consequences and deservedly so.”

Smith said LinkedIn is mostly facing short-term consequences, but it could have wider implications.

“What I think is going to be a more far-reaching consequence is – I really think we’re going to see a lot more legislation that requires organizations of all kinds, but especially organizations that deal with costumer information, to be a lot more upfront with their disclosures,” Smith said.

According to Smith, LinkedIn still has the ability to rebuild their reputation.

“I think there’s going to be a bit of dissatisfaction with LinkedIn,” Smith said. “But then again, once LinkedIn fixes the problem and fixes their settlement and apologizes, and if they value themselves with how they handle information, I think they can save their reputation.”

Senior Alexis Ferrell said LinkedIn users are upset because the emails made them seem unprofessional.

“I think users are upset because they use LinkedIn as a professional website and by multiple emails being sent out from their account – that’s making them seem unprofessional, which I think is the total opposite from why they have the account in the first place,” Ferrell said.

Users sued LinkedIn because the “Add Connections” feature violated their right of publicity and was an unfair business practice.

According to Smith, LinkedIn will have to take responsibility for what happened.

“LinkedIn is a very powerful tool and it’s got a huge following, and it’s going to continue to have that,” Smith said. “So they owe it to their customers to take a more of a high ground approach and be more diligent and recognize they have a responsibility with their subscribers.”

Smith said LinkedIn as a business would be fine in the future.

“LinkedIn is a powerful source and they established the leader as far as digital business networking and I think they’re so well established this is not going to have a big long-term impact,” Smith said. “If they do something like this again, for them it’s going to be a different story.”

Individuals that used the “Add Connections” feature and received an email for the lawsuit can file a claim to collect compensation.

The amount individuals receive will depend on how others file a claim. The settlement calls for LinkedIn to add $750,000 to their $13 million settlement fund – if it appears individual payments will be below $10, according to Fortune.

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