LinkedIn is adding new verification tools that let members confirm colleagues’ work and education history while giving companies greater control over accounts claiming to employ them. The changes arrive as AI makes it easier to create convincing fake identities and professional profiles for scams and online manipulation.
LinkedIn says 115 million members and more than 700,000 companies have already used its verification tools. VP of Product Oscar Rodriguez said establishing credible professional identities has become increasingly important as generating fake information becomes easier.
Members Can Confirm Each Other’s Experience
Under LinkedIn’s new verification features, verified members can confirm that they worked or studied with a connection during a period listed on that person’s profile. The feature confirms the claimed relationship rather than serving as an endorsement of the person’s skills or performance.
LinkedIn has added requirements intended to limit abuse. Someone providing confirmation must have a verified profile, use two-factor authentication and have been connected with the other member for at least one year.
LinkedIn will initially prompt eligible members to confirm shared work or education experiences. After a profile receives enough confirmations, LinkedIn can add a verification badge, while members will later be able to ask connections to verify experiences directly.
The company says verified members receive about 50% more post engagement and close to 90% more profile views than members without verification.
Companies Gain More Control Over Employee Claims
Admins of verified company pages can now remove known imposter accounts from appearing under their company name in LinkedIn search results. LinkedIn is also testing a setting that would require people claiming current employment at participating companies to complete workplace verification.
Removing an association will not delete or rewrite information on the member’s own profile. Instead, the company link will no longer connect to the employer’s LinkedIn page, and the employment claim will not appear as verified.
The controls currently focus on people claiming full-time employment. Contractors and field workers can use other verification methods to establish their association with an organization.
LinkedIn is also expanding its Verified on LinkedIn program beyond its own platform. Truecaller and PeerSpot are joining existing partners including Adobe, TrustRadius and UserTesting, allowing members to share LinkedIn verification signals with those services after giving permission.
For example, Truecaller can display that a caller has a verified LinkedIn identity when they contact another user. LinkedIn says these partnerships are intended to give people additional information when assessing whether an online identity or professional claim is authentic.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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