LinkedIn is a social network for the business community. Founded in 2003, the online site is a place for professionals to connect with past and current colleagues. Through this social network, people can increase their number of business connections, network within their industry, discuss business ideas, search for jobs and look for new hires. When it comes to social networks and privacy controls, LinkedIn is one of the best. But, despite good policies and user controls, they still know a good amount about you. If you decide you don’t want LinkedIn harvesting your data, you can delete your LinkedIn account. For doing this, reading this article is essential for you.
LinkedIn users create professional, resume-like profiles that allow other site members to learn more about their business background, areas of expertise and groups or organizations they belong to. Once a user creates their profile, they can add other users to their network.
The profiles also include options for including status updates that let those in a user’s network know what they’re working on and when they might be traveling, or offer advice when needed. There is also a feature that allows those not signed in to LinkedIn to view parts of the profile the user deems allowable.
Main Features of LinkedIn
- Search For Jobs: LinkedIn Jobs lets users search thousands of employment listings, with options for filling out applications directly on the site. The application and LinkedIn profile is then sent directly to the potential employer.
- Keep In Touch: LinkedIn gives users the opportunity to stay updated on where those in their professional network are working and how to contact them. Actually, it do this with people changing jobs so often.
- Get Help: When a user’s immediate network of contacts can’t help with a business problem, LinkedIn’s tools let them connect with experts through trusted introductions.
- Hire New Employees: Hiring managers can use LinkedIn to find the candidate with the specific skill set and necessary experience.
LinkedIn currently has more than 160 million members in 200 countries.
How to Close and Delete LinkedIn Account?
Closing your account means permanently deleting your profile and removing access to all your LinkedIn information from our site. If you have a Premium account, you can cancel the Premium access, but still keep your free Basic account to retain your profile, connections, and other information.
Thankfully, LinkedIn seems to care more about your privacy than other networks. So if you don’t want to wait for LinkedIn’s automated removal process:
You may request deletion of your information at any time by contacting LinkedIn customer service. They will respond to your request within 30 days. Please note, however that information you have shared with others, or that other Users have copied, may also remain visible even if you request its deletion.
To delete your LinkedIn account from the Settings & Privacy page:
- Go to the top right hand corner. Put the mouse over the tiny picture of you, or the white box with the grey outline of you if you don’t have a photo on LinkedIn.
- Go down to Privacy and Settings and left click.
- Re-enter your password if asked.
- Under the Account management section of the Account tab, click Change next to Closing your LinkedIn account.
- Check the reason for closing your account and click Next.
- Enter your account password and click Close account.
That’s all there is to delete a LinkedIn account. As far as social networks go, it’s a vastly improved experience over removing a Twitter or Facebook account.
Close your account directly from the “Close Account” page
Before you delete your LinkedIn account from the “Close Account” page, please note:
- You won’t have access to your connections or any information you’ve added to your account.
- Your profile will no longer be visible on LinkedIn.
- Search engines like Yahoo!, Bing, and Google may still display your information temporarily due to the way they collect and update their search data. Learn more about how your profile shows up in search engine results.
- You’ll lose all recommendations and endorsements you’ve collected on your LinkedIn profile.
- You may want to download a copy of your data before you close your account with us.
- If you have a premium membership, own a LinkedIn group, or have a premium account license, you’ll have to resolve those accounts before being able to close your Basic account.
- If you’ve created more than one account, learn how to delete or merge a duplicate account.
You can reopen your account in most cases if it’s been closed less than 20 days.
- Endorsements and recommendations
- Ignored or pending invitations
- Followings (Such as Companies)
- Group memberships
However, close your account directly from the Close Account page is immediately wiped from its backup drives. LinkedIn will retain your information for so long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services.
How to Keep Your Account but Receive Less Email and Notifications?
You can set the frequency of email communications and notifications from the Communications tab of your Settings & Privacy page. In this way, you can reduce emails, notifications, group digest emails, and LinkedIn announcements. On the mobile app, the Settings page is located at the top right corner of your profile page.
