LinkedIn has suspended collecting Hong Kong users’ data for its generative artificial intelligence model after the city’s privacy watchdog hit out at the Microsoft-owned social media network.

The Office for the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said on Tuesday that LinkedIn had responded to their inquiry over a default opt-in setting for Hong Kong users’ data to be gathered for purposes including training AI models “used for content generation”.

“The PCPD received a response from LinkedIn yesterday confirming that it has paused any use of Hong Kong users’ personal data for such purposes as of 11 October 2024 while the PCPD’s concerns are being addressed,” the spokesman said.

The social media platform told the Post earlier this month that it had begun to inform users of the new feature through multiple channels, though it was unclear when LinkedIn introduced this.

In its reply, it highlighted a September 18 blog post where its senior vice-president and general counsel Blake Lawit shared that the firm had included “training AI models used for content generation (generative AI)” among the uses of data gathered.

Users would have to manually opt-out of providing their information on LinkedIn to train their generative AI models. They could do so at the ‘Data Privacy’ page of their account by selecting “Data for Generative AI Improvement” and revoking their permission.

LinkedIn had suspended their collection of United Kingdom users’ data last month after the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s privacy regulator, voiced concerns.