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LinkedIn locked my account and wants me to do ID verification through Persona (piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/privacy@lemmy.world

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I haven't tried to log into my account for a few weeks because LinkedIn is a cesspool. When I logged in just now (with a passkey, btw), it brought me to this page.

I've had this account for over a decade and used it to get my current position. I don't want to use LinkedIn, but it's pretty much a requirement in my industry.

I'm not sure if I should cave or what. I read the privacy policy for Persona's ID verification and it states that the data is immediately destroyed after verification, or held for three years.

This shit should be fucking illegal, and yet, in much of the world, it's being made enforced legislation. Fuck any company and politician that supports, funds, or operates this bullshit.

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[-] WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today 78 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is the second person I've seen (without even trying) in a week running into this. Since Lemmy is still so small in the social media world, I can only imagine the actual number affected is huge. Someone's trying to collect all the data they can before Trump (hopefully) gets somewhat neutered in the coming election & they can't get away with it as easily anymore.

[-] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You're delusional if you think Liberals will stop web ID. They are the ones implementing it in the UK, Canada, Australia, and EU.

The entire turnkey-totalitarian mass surveillance apparatus America has constructed over the last few decades was expanded throughout Conservative and Liberal majorities. It's one of the few things they always agreed on, and consistently passed with little debate or fanfare.

There's a reason the Black Panthers coined the phrase "scratch a Liberal and you'll find a fascist" several decades ago; they'd already propelled the Nazis to victory in Germany decades before that.

[-] Serinus@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

This is an interesting pattern. Two reasonable things to get the upvote, and then a hard turn at the end.

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[-] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 46 points 2 months ago

admiral ackbar staring at you… witheringly

[-] StillAlive@piefed.world 45 points 2 months ago

I read the privacy policy for Persona's ID verification and it states that the data is immediately destroyed after verification, or held for three years.

So which is it?

[-] WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today 51 points 2 months ago

Neither. It's never destroyed because you can't prove otherwise. At best it's given to authorities within three years to free up storage space.

[-] 87Six@lemmy.zip 55 points 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's both destroyed and exists, until a data breach happens, in which case it definitely exists

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 24 points 2 months ago

Deleted is set to true in that record.

[-] scutiger@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

The classic "Mark as deleted"

[-] artyom@piefed.social 8 points 2 months ago

If it was destroyed after verification they wouldn't have been able to leak the personal IDs of millions of users just a few months ago.

[-] fascicle@leminal.space 6 points 2 months ago

Its deleted in your country but store safely offshore

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago

My account is still locked and I can't delete it. I even filed a GDPR report but apparently GDPR doesn't apply if it's a "security requirement". So note if you want to bypass GDPR and capitalize on personally identifiable information (PII) all you have to do is pretend it's for security because literally everything can be used for security in some form.

[-] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 months ago

Security theater.

[-] BeUnique@lemmy.zip 30 points 2 months ago

Has anyone actually landed a good job on LinkedIn anyway?

In seriously asking. The last time I checked the app was full of low-ball offers, bots, and a lot of applications that the companoes completely ignore if you apply on LinkedIn.

[-] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 28 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yes, plenty of people do. Unfortunately for me, the original promise of LinkedIn has been lost. Originally it was meant to help people maintain their professional network by not losing track of people they had worked with in the past. Over the years, it has turned into nothing more than a place for recruiters to fish in. It feels like a dating site for workers and recruiters to find each other.

[-] lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 2 months ago

Last year a company shot me a message and now I work there. It was excellent timing on their part, because I was very unhappy with my employer back then.

I feel like LinkedIn has changed a lot since then, though. The platform is overrun with AI slop and I'm seriously thinking about deleting my account.

[-] IndigoForever@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

It’s mostly spam these days and fake postings for ghost jobs, and then bots auto applying to those postings. I would say 5 percent or maybe 10 at most are legit. I have found a few jobs through there.

However since ChatGPT became a thing they offer near minimum wage now for senior engineers in a lot of places, salaries are half at best of what they were in 2024.

[-] tmyakal@infosec.pub 4 points 2 months ago

LinkedIn got me into my current company about four years ago. I've snagged one or two interviews with it since then.

In my experience, it's only really used by recruiters for Fortune 500 companies looking for specialists.

[-] nbsp@programming.dev 3 points 2 months ago

yeah recruiter found me on linkedin and got me this job. that was 11 years ago, the market has changed a lot since the.

[-] NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago

Well, I was offered the job of a lifetime - an aesthetician offered me a unique chance to be their downline sales member for Rodan and Fields.

Given that you are seriously asking, the only things I have ever been offered on LinkedIn are MLM crap and people trying to sell me their investment products

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[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

No. All of my good jobs have come through excellent job placement companies.

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[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 months ago

through Persona

[-] Auster@thebrainbin.org 18 points 2 months ago

My suggestions would be to either block Linkedin at firewall level, or to cave in but to plaster everywhere you can, including within Linkedin, their datahoarding/telescreen¹ attempt travestied as privacy. Or to block it and still plaster the situation everywhere.

¹1984 reference

[-] Sibshops@lemmy.myserv.one 17 points 2 months ago

Thin doesn't seem like an essential service that needs my ID for anything.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Then you must not be looking for a job to pay your bills and feed your family.

[-] RazzleDazzle@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 months ago

Same here. Also with enabled 2FA. I suspect this is because I'm using a VPN.

I certainly will not give them my ID. luckily it is not that high of importance to me but still, there are contacts that I would like to to be able access.

Are there maybe other ways to proof proper ownership of the account?

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'd see if you could request deletion of the account and come back in a few years and create a new one. But there are no guarantees they won't just require it for all new accounts.

Or just see how it goes without having one. Maybe create and maintain a mastodon account on an industry-relevant instance.

[-] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 months ago

I had to threaten a GDPR lawsuit on them to do this. I got locked out the same way a year ago and was going to delete my account anyway. Sent a trackable letter to their HQ in Europe and a follow up after not hearing back, eventually my account was removed.

[-] steel_for_humans@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago

I was going to ask about that -- how to delete my account if I get locked out and won't provide my ID. It sounds like a real hassle. I had my LinkedIn account suspended for a long time now because I don't find that website useful, but I still wanted to have options. This year I received a few emails from them telling me that some of my contacts solved some online quizzes on LinkedIn and that I should try. Who has time for online quizzes?! That must be the same type of person who plays Solitaire on their Windows PC. And also they are probably bored at their job, I'm not (quite the contrary).

[-] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago

If you're in Europe a GDPR claim used to carry weight when contacting any company. But this has changed too, that law & order president over there is demonstrating how US companies are allowed to behave. But worth a try, maybe look into legal insurance beforehand and then it could be fun to take to court.

I like online quizzes, they're fun for the commute home

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

How did you do this? I made a gdpr report and got declined because "gdpr does not apply for security" so my account is still locked with my photo and my private information years later now. Maybe snail mail legal threat would actually work.

[-] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 months ago

Snail mail with tracking, I gave them my legal address (moved shortly after) and email as verification. I requested the deletion of all my data but never actually regained access to my account. There are plenty of templates online so you use the correct wording, set an appropriate deadline, etc.

Eventually my account disappeared, but I never received any actual confirmation from them.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Thanks I will give this a shot and spend my weekend because how dirty LinkedIn did me. I don't even care about the data anymore - it's just pure anger now 😤

[-] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago

Good luck!

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Can you reach out to their support?

[-] 87Six@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 months ago

If you want to waste your time, yea. I don't remember the last time I got ACTUAL support from a company.

[-] steel_for_humans@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago

I did from Apple a few years ago after I bought a new Mac mini, but there was some issue with my Apple Care subscription and they helped me to sort it out. I actually had to talk to a real person on the phone from another country (Ireland) because they needed to escalate. But my issue was resolved and they were very helpful.

[-] 87Six@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I gotta give Apple that, they have actual support.

Well, as long as it's not about repairing something without warranty.

[-] bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago

I did this with discover. After 3 weeks of calling and running up the chain they finally "realized" that I could add my phone number to verify (even though I'd been using email as my primary). Haven't had to mess with it since.

[-] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

Federated alternative to LinkedIn when?

[-] Anon518@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago

https://auzo.uk/linkedin/

[-] wild@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I was able to verify using my Global Entry card with much of the information blacked out.

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this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026

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