LinkedIn and GDPR: A guide to best practices for marketers
Social media can feel like its own country, with standardized ways to do things, rules to follow, and places everyone wants to access. Even so, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) still applies to these platforms because of the amount of data that they provide and the opportunities that come from processing it.
For marketers using LinkedIn to reach their customers, understanding and complying with GDPR principles is essential. Not only does privacy compliance help avoid penalties, but it also builds trust with your target audience and helps build long-term engagement.
Discover how the GDPR applies to LinkedIn and what your company needs to know about Privacy-Led Marketing on the platform. We’ve also included six best practices to help you stay GDPR-compliant when using LinkedIn.
The basics of GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was created to give individuals in the European Union more control over their privacy and how companies use and process their personal data.
For businesses, this means abiding by several key principles. These include being transparent about data usage, collecting only necessary data — also known as data minimization — and ensuring that the information is accurate, secure, and only kept as long as it is needed. For marketers using LinkedIn, these principles are critical for handling data responsibly, whether you’re gathering leads or running ad campaigns.
In addition to these guidelines, the GDPR requires organizations to have a valid legal basis for processing personal data. The two most relevant bases for marketers are:
- consent: individuals must agree to their data being used.
- legitimate interest: companies can process data in a way that benefits their business, provided it doesn’t infringe on users’ privacy rights.
Ensuring that your business has a clear and lawful reason for handling personal data and that you communicate this clearly to users, is a crucial part of staying GDPR-compliant on LinkedIn.
How GDPR affects social media platforms
Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook are heavily impacted by the GDPR for companies with European operations since they gather and handle extensive personal data, including users’ names, email addresses, employment details, and more. These platforms must therefore have valid legal reasons to collect and process data. They also need to provide users with clear and transparent privacy information and maintain strong security measures to protect their data.
As you navigate these requirements, it’s important to recognize that LinkedIn isn’t solely responsible for your company’s GDPR compliance: your business bears responsibility for its privacy operations and legal compliance. If your business leverages LinkedIn to collect or process personal data — such as through lead generation forms or tracking user interactions for retargeting — you also bear responsibility for ensuring GDPR compliance on LinkedIn. You’re also responsible for making sure third parties contracted by you process data compliantly and store it securely as well.
This shared responsibility exists because LinkedIn operates as both a data controller and a data processor under the GDPR. As a data controller, LinkedIn decides how personal data on its platform is collected and used. But when your business uses LinkedIn for marketing, it acts as a data processor, managing data on your behalf.
LinkedIn and GDPR
For marketers using LinkedIn, the platform provides several tools that enable businesses to reach potential customers. These tools include sponsored content, lead generation forms, and retargeting ads. As a data controller, LinkedIn has taken several steps to comply with the GDPR. These include:
- Updating its privacy policies and user agreements to reflect GDPR requirements.
- Implementing enhanced privacy controls for users that empower LinkedIn members to easily manage their personal data. LinkedIn offers options to download one’s information, adjust visibility settings, and customize advertising preferences. These controls mean that individuals can decide how much of their data is shared and if/how it’s used for targeted marketing.
- Providing tools for businesses to manage their GDPR obligations when using LinkedIn’s marketing and advertising products. LinkedIn offers resources such as data processing agreements and GDPR compliance checklists that help businesses understand their responsibilities. These resources help ensure that companies can navigate compliance requirements while using LinkedIn’s powerful advertising features.
LinkedIn lead gen forms and the GDPR
LinkedIn’s lead generation forms are one of the most popular tools for gathering personal data from users. These forms automatically populate with information from a user’s LinkedIn profile, such as their name, email address, and job title. Making it easy for people to submit their information without having to click away to another web page and manually fill out a form.
However, under the GDPR, brands using lead generation forms must obtain explicit consent from users before collecting their data. Brands must also include a privacy notice on the form that outlines how the data will be used. Additionally, you need to obtain the user’s consent by providing an unchecked box that they must actively check to agree.
Companies must also provide users with the option to withdraw their consent at any time and be prepared to delete personal data if requested. It’s important to regularly review and update privacy policies as operations, technologies in use, and legal requirements change to remain compliant with GDPR requirements.
LinkedIn remarketing ads and GDPR
Remarketing ads on LinkedIn enable businesses to target users who have previously interacted with their website or ads. This is achieved by placing a tracking cookie (LinkedIn Insight Tag) on a website. This cookie gathers information about how users behave, enabling LinkedIn to display relevant ads when they return to the platform.
The GDPR has strict rules on how companies can use cookies and tracking technologies, particularly concerning the collection and use of personal data. To comply, companies must obtain informed and explicit consent from users before tracking them for remarketing purposes.
This usually involves providing users with a cookie banner when they first visit a website. The banner should explain to people that tracking will occur and give them the option to accept or decline. Businesses must also respect user preferences and avoid tracking users who have opted out of cookies.
6 best practices for GDPR compliance on LinkedIn
Achieving and maintaining GDPR compliance on LinkedIn is not just about meeting legal requirements, it’s also about fostering trust with your audience. Here are some best practices for staying GDPR-compliant when using LinkedIn.
- Obtain explicit consent: Always ask for explicit consent before collecting any personal data. This is especially important when using LinkedIn’s lead generation forms or running remarketing ads. Ensure that consent is freely given, specific, and informed, and avoid using pre-checked boxes or other mechanisms.
- Be transparent: Clearly communicate how personal data will be collected and used. This includes providing a clear and easily accessible privacy policy and updating it regularly to reflect any changes in data processing practices. Transparency also means informing users of their rights under the GDPR, such as their right to access, correct, or delete their data.
- Limit data collection: Only collect the data that is necessary for your marketing activities. Avoid asking for unnecessary personal information, and ensure that any data collected is relevant to the purpose at hand.
- Secure data: Implement appropriate security measures to protect the personal data you collect through LinkedIn. These measures may include encrypting sensitive data, limiting access to data within your organization, and regularly reviewing security protocols to identify and prevent potential risks. This also applies to third-party processors you work with.
- Honor user requests: Be prepared to respond to user requests, such as those for access to or deletion of their personal data. Ensure you have a process in place to handle these requests promptly and efficiently.
- Regularly review compliance: GDPR compliance is not a one-time effort. Regularly review your data collection and processing practices, technologies in use, and data you hold to ensure they align with GDPR requirements. Be sure to keep up with any changes and update your privacy policies and procedures accordingly.
The role of privacy policies in LinkedIn marketing
When using LinkedIn for marketing purposes, a privacy policy is not only important for GDPR compliance, it’s essential for running LinkedIn ads. Specifically, LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads often automatically populate forms with personal information such as a user’s name, contact details, job title, and location, which is then shared with businesses.
Because this data is classified as personal information under the GDPR, businesses are required to provide a privacy policy that outlines how this data is collected, used, and protected. In fact, LinkedIn’s policies state that businesses cannot run Lead Gen Ads on the platform without publishing a valid privacy policy.
Consequences of GDPR noncompliance on LinkedIn
No matter your company’s size, the fines for a LinkedIn GDPR violation can be severe. The GDPR uses a two-tiered system to determine the exact size of a penalty, which is based on the severity of the violation and whether it’s a first or repeat offense.
Less serious breaches can result in fines of up to EUR 10 million or 2 percent of global annual revenue, whichever is higher, while more severe violations can result in fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4 percent of revenue.
The exact fine is determined by factors in Art. 83 GDPR. These factors include the nature of the violation, any preventive measures taken, and whether affected individuals were notified. Other considerations are the type of personal data involved, the company’s history with data privacy, and its response to warnings. Authorities can also suspend some operations and implement resource-intensive measures like auditing a company’s operations.
GDPR non-compliance can also damage a company’s reputation. With data privacy becoming increasingly important to consumers, companies that fail to protect personal data risk losing the trust of their audience, as well as advertisers, potential investors, and others, which can have long-term consequences for their brand and revenue.
Navigating LinkedIn and GDPR compliance
Navigating GDPR compliance on LinkedIn is crucial for any business using the platform for marketing purposes.
The GDPR has set a new standard for data protection, and businesses must take care to meet its requirements today and in the future when collecting, processing, or storing personal data. By understanding how the GDPR applies to LinkedIn and implementing best practices, marketers can protect their businesses from the risks of non-compliance while also building stronger, more trusting relationships with their audience.
With transparency, appropriate security measures, and a clear commitment to user rights, businesses can use LinkedIn in a GDPR-compliant way.