Professional networking website LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft last year, is bringing in a slew of new productivity tools and features along with updates to its privacy and legal policies. The company announced the same today, through an official blog post.
Announcing the new updated terms of service, the company said:
At LinkedIn, our “members first” philosophy helps guide every decision we make, including how we gather and respect your personal information. Today, we’re giving you an early look at LinkedIn’s updated Terms of Service – our Privacy Policy and User Agreement – so that you can understand what’s changing before it takes effect on June 7, 2017.
The change in LinkedIns terms of service come after a fair amount of time and, as is the case with all such online platforms, you automatically agree to them by continuing to use LinkedIn’s service. The changes have also been made in light of several new features that will be making their way to the platform over the course of the next few months.
Increased Visibility
First up, LinkedIn will now allow several third party services to show your profile to their users to improve visibility. To take an example, Facebook users could be asked to connect with you over Linkedin. That is strictly an example though and a collaboration of this level between LinkedIn and Facebook remains unlikely.
You can also opt out of having third parties display your LinkedIn profile to their users.
The company is also making it easier for users to share accomplishments with their network. To do this, it will automatically suggest stuff like awards and industry recognition, that you may chose to share with your network.
Meet nearby LinkedIn members
So this feature is somewhat reminiscent of a similar Facebook feature. You can use this to arrange meetups with other LinkedIn members.
You can choose to use an upcoming feature that helps you find nearbyLinkedIn members, who have also opted-in, at a conference, event or meeting.
Productivity bots and automatic responses
This is another feature that seems to have been borrowed from other social networking networks. This new feature will help you by suggesting responses during messaging. This can also help you in scheduling meetings, creating new ice-breakers you can use to engage in conversations and so on.
Finally, LinkedIn has made changes to its policy wherein all members and visitors outside the US will now be governed by Irish law.
Our members and visitors outside the U.S. will now be governed by Irish law (rather than California law) and can have disputes settled in Irish courts.
