LinkedIn Reaches Settlement With Disgruntled Users

Privacy concerns are at an all time high, and for good reason: joining the Snowden revelations have been a steady stream of security breaches among different companies, many of which have left users' sensitive data vulnerable or completely exposed. It's no surprise, then, that users didn't take kindly to discovering LinkedIn's security measures weren't as robust as they'd been led to believe. Such a revelation came to light in the summer of 2012 when hackers grabbed a trove of passwords.

It was in June of 2012 when Russian hackers, thanks to lackluster security measures on LinkedIn's part, grabbed a file that had 6.5 million user passwords, something that was eventually posted on a hacking website. This event spurred LinkedIn to implement better security measures, but the damage was done by that point, and users weren't happy.

The company's paying subscribers in particular took up digital arms and slapped LinkedIn with a class-action lawsuit, contending that when they signed up for those premium offerings, the business-centric social site made security claims that were deceptive.

Fast-forward through the legal proceedings, and LinkedIn has reached a settlement that'll have it shelling out to up to 800,000 users. United States users who subscribed to the premium offerings between 3/16/2006 and 6/7/2012 can claim their share of the pot — they'll get approximately $1 each after the lawyer fees are doled out.

SOURCE: New York Times