Cybersecurity Policy Report, Watchdog Files Privacy Complaint Against LinkedIn in Austria, (May 6, 2026)
The European Center for Digital Rights (NOYB) has filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority, Datenschutzbehörde (DSB), against LinkedIn over alleged violations of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
LinkedIn tracks visits to profile pages but a user has to pay for a premium membership to see who has visited their own profile, NOYB noted in a news release. It’s unclear whether the tracking of visitors is legal, but if the data is displayed as part of a premium membership, “it should also be accessible in response to an access request under Article 15 GDPR,” it said.
LinkedIn, however, has refused to comply with access requests, citing data protection concerns “that supposedly only arise in the case of an access request,” NOYB said.
NOYB states that it is “particularly absurd that LinkedIn is using a supposed ‘data protection interest’ as an argument to deny the right of access to data under the GDPR.” The GDPR establishes rights for users that enable them to access and amend their data, but companies often charge a fee to do so in violation of the GDPR, the group said.
NOYB’s complaint, filed on behalf of a LinkedIn user, demands a full response to his access request and proposes that a fine be imposed on LinkedIn to prevent similar violations in the future.
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