{"id":258,"date":"2021-09-29T10:58:37","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T10:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/?p=258"},"modified":"2021-11-13T13:07:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T13:07:17","slug":"privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Set Your Privacy On LinkedIn When Viewing People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you look people up on LinkedIn, they may be able to see your name and other details in their list of who viewed their profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may want to keep your identifying details private. This article explains all your options and how to switch between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also look at whether changes between public and private status are applied retrospectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66285cc59c9b7\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66285cc59c9b7\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#How_To_Set_Levels_Of_Privacy_and_Anonymity_On_LinkedIn\" title=\"How To Set Levels Of Privacy and Anonymity On LinkedIn\">How To Set Levels Of Privacy and Anonymity On LinkedIn<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#Default_Privacy_Status_When_You_Start_Your_Account\" title=\"Default Privacy Status When You Start Your Account\">Default Privacy Status When You Start Your Account<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#If_You_Change_From_Public_To_Private_Does_This_Prevent_Members_You_Viewed_From_Seeing_Your_Details\" title=\"If You Change From Public To Private, Does This Prevent Members You Viewed From Seeing Your Details?\">If You Change From Public To Private, Does This Prevent Members You Viewed From Seeing Your Details?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#If_You_Change_From_Private_To_Public_Do_Members_You_Viewed_Previously_Now_See_Your_Details\" title=\"If You Change From Private To Public, Do Members You Viewed Previously Now See Your Details?\">If You Change From Private To Public, Do Members You Viewed Previously Now See Your Details?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#Whats_The_Difference_Between_%E2%80%9CSomeone_On_LinkedIn%E2%80%9D_and_Anonymous\" title=\"What\u2019s The Difference Between \u201cSomeone On LinkedIn\u201d and Anonymous?\">What\u2019s The Difference Between \u201cSomeone On LinkedIn\u201d and Anonymous?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/#Our_Other_Articles_And_Tutorials_About_Privacy\" title=\"Our Other Articles And Tutorials About Privacy\">Our Other Articles And Tutorials About Privacy<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Set_Levels_Of_Privacy_and_Anonymity_On_LinkedIn\"><\/span>How To Set Levels Of Privacy and Anonymity On LinkedIn<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the steps to change between different levels of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li>Expand the drop-down menu under your account name and choose \u201cSettings &amp; Privacy\u201d<\/li><li>Click the \u201cVisibility\u201d link in the left pane<\/li><li>Click \u201cChange\u201d on the Profile Viewing options at the top of the right pane<\/li><li>Choose between three levels of privacy and anonymity<\/li><li><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pictorial walkthrough<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the steps above with screengrabs to show you exactly how to get to the Visibility settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[1] Access the Settings page<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"291\" height=\"306\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/account_dropdown_menu.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/account_dropdown_menu.jpg 291w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/account_dropdown_menu-285x300.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>[2] Click on Visibility<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"234\" height=\"261\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/menu_visibility.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>[3] Click Change on the Profile viewing options<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"475\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/menu_change_profile_viewing_options.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/menu_change_profile_viewing_options.jpg 475w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/menu_change_profile_viewing_options-300x138.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Change link expands the page to show you three privacy levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lowest level of privacy is set up by default. In other words, others will see your name, job title, company, and industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can switch to either semi-private or private mode In this section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"329\" height=\"284\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/options_privacy_levels.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/options_privacy_levels.jpg 329w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/options_privacy_levels-300x259.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 329px) 100vw, 329px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switching to semi-private or \u201cSomeone on LinkedIn\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The semi-private option is the second option in this section. It is labeled as \u201cPrivate profile characteristics\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Choosing this option withholds your name, but shows your headline details. This includes your job title and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switching to private or \u201cAnonymous\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The private option is the third option in this section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Choosing this option hides not just your name but all your details from people whose profile you view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Default_Privacy_Status_When_You_Start_Your_Account\"><\/span>Default Privacy Status When You Start Your Account<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s useful to know that when you first set up your LinkedIn account, they default you to having a public profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you view other member profiles, then they may be able to see your name and your \u201cheadline\u201d details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cheadline\u201d details includes your occupation, your job title, your company, and your industry (if you\u2019ve filled in these details).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I say they \u201cmay\u201d see these details because what they see also depends on their own privacy settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do people see if their status is Private?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you set yourself to Private, you won\u2019t be able to see the details of who looked you up \u2013 even if their profile is set to public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;You\u2019ll see something like below. No, I haven\u2019t messed up the image, it looks that blurry on LinkedIn!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"370\" height=\"193\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/private_status_greys_out_history.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/private_status_greys_out_history.jpg 370w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/private_status_greys_out_history-300x156.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 370px) 100vw, 370px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"If_You_Change_From_Public_To_Private_Does_This_Prevent_Members_You_Viewed_From_Seeing_Your_Details\"><\/span>If You Change From Public To Private, Does This Prevent Members You Viewed From Seeing Your Details?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This question is basically asking if setting the private mode is retroactive. Here\u2019s a sample scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Your status was public when you clicked on another member\u2019s profile. Ten minutes later, you switched to full Private mode. Does the other member see your details or not?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To answer this, I tested the scenario with two LinkedIn accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is that the change should not be retroactive. In other words, what you did in Public mode still stands. Applying Private mode affects what you do after that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A potential loophole<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>However, you may get away with \u201chiding\u201d a view if you\u2019re very quick to change it e.g. within minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason is that LinkedIn is a massive website with processing distributed across many different servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a chance that the privacy change will be processed on one server before the other member\u2019s viewing history is updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wouldn\u2019t count on it, though! And there\u2019s no way for you to tell \u2013 unless you ask the other member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"If_You_Change_From_Private_To_Public_Do_Members_You_Viewed_Previously_Now_See_Your_Details\"><\/span>If You Change From Private To Public, Do Members You Viewed Previously Now See Your Details?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a sample scenario that prompts this question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When your status was Private, you merrily looked up the profiles of hundreds of people. You\u2019ve finished your research, and want to set your profile to public again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But does that mean that members who couldn\u2019t see the details of your look-up will suddenly see your full details?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a similar question to the previous one. Basically, we\u2019re asking if the status change is retrospective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To answer this, I tested the scenario with two LinkedIn accounts that had looked up each other\u2019s profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I switched one of the accounts from private to public, the view history of the other account did not change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, the general answer is that the change is not applied retrospectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Personally, I wouldn\u2019t rely on this if the question of privacy was vitally important!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_The_Difference_Between_%E2%80%9CSomeone_On_LinkedIn%E2%80%9D_and_Anonymous\"><\/span>What\u2019s The Difference Between \u201cSomeone On LinkedIn\u201d and Anonymous?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you view the profiles of people who have looked you up on LinkedIn, you may see two similar descriptions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u201cSomeone on LinkedIn\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cThis LinkedIn member has chosen to be anonymous\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s the difference between these two profiles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Someone on LinkedIn<\/em>\u201d means that the member has set their visibility status to be semi-private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>This LinkedIn member has chosen to be anonymous<\/em>\u201d means that the member has set their visibility to be fully private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full privacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you choose full privacy, then your name and other details will not be shown to people whose profile you view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from your name, they won\u2019t see your job title, your current company, or your industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Semi-private<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you choose semi-private, then other people see this \u201cSomeone on LinkedIn\u201d instead of your name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But isn\u2019t that the same as full privacy on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>? No! Your name is withheld, but some other details are shown. These are what LinkedIn calls your \u201cheadline\u201d details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The semi-private status shows your occupation, your industry, your company, and your job title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Our_Other_Articles_And_Tutorials_About_Privacy\"><\/span>Our Other Articles And Tutorials About Privacy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out these other articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/view-linkedin-profiles-without-them-knowing\/\">How to view profiles on LinkedIn without the people knowing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/what-happens-when-you-block-someone-on-linkedin-tested\/\">What happens when you block someone on LinkedIn? Do they know?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/can-your-boss-tell-if-you-block-them-on-linkedin\/\">Can your boss tell if you block him or her on LinkedIn?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/block-a-company-on-linkedin\/\">How to block an entire company on LinkedIn<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-view-your-linkedin-profile-as-someone-else\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"323\">How to view your LinkedIn profile as if you were someone else<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you look people up on LinkedIn, they may be able to see your name and other details in their list of who viewed their profile. You may want to keep your identifying details private. This article explains all your options and how to switch between them. We also look at whether changes between public &#8230; <a title=\"How To Set Your Privacy On LinkedIn When Viewing People\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/privacy-when-viewing-people-on-linkedin\/\" aria-label=\"More on How To Set Your Privacy On LinkedIn When Viewing People\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}