LinkedIn Company Groups create privacy concerns

LinkedIn recently rolled out its Company Groups, which according to the site is a “private place on LinkedIn where you can communicate and collaborate with your co-workers.” These groups are not company-run or managed; they are automatically populated with LinkedIn users who list Company A as his or her current employer and who have seemingly valid Company A email addresses. This level of verification is not uncommon with social networking tools (this method is similar to how Facebook sets permissions for company networks). However it’s the encouragement of private conversations that brings about the biggest privacy concerns.

Potential privacy issues through social media are currently taking the form of a beast that many companies are fighting hard to combat. With these seemingly private groups, employees with less understanding of how third-party communities work may share potentially proprietary information about customers, partners, product roadmaps or even financials.