When you open LinkedIn in Chrome, hidden JavaScript scans your computer without your knowledge or permission This article explores linkedin surveillance efforts. . Researchers say that a thorough investigation uncovered one of the biggest corporate espionage and data breach scandals in digital history.

LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft and has over a billion users, is the largest professional networking site in the world. It runs hidden code that checks visitors' browsers for thousands of installed extensions. As soon as an extension is found, it is matched with a known person. LinkedIn also knows where each user works, so these scans can be put together into detailed corporate intelligence profiles without the companies knowing.

LinkedIn's surveillance efforts grew a lot when it added more than 6,000 products to its scan list, up from about 461 in 2024. The company went after the exact tools that were meant to protect the DMA. LinkedIn can learn a lot more than just what software you like from scanned extensions.

The BrowserGate investigation says that LinkedIn is using its secret scanning ability to enforce competition. At least as far back as 2017, when LinkedIn only scanned 38 extensions, this was done. The number had grown to almost 3,000 by February 2026, and it has since more than doubled. Fairlinked e.V.

says that the practice is against the law and could even be a crime in every place it has looked into.

BrowserGate is one of the largest undisclosed data collection operations in history on the commercial internet, with a total of 405 million users of the scanned extensions. People in charge in the EU have been told. The legal process has begun.

As part of this secret operation, every user of a Chromium browser who visits LinkedIn is still being watched. To protect yourself: - To get to LinkedIn, use Firefox or Safari instead of Chrome. This is because Chrome extensions are blocked by Firefox's design. - Make a LinkedIn-only profile with no extensions to get around surveillance.

  • Use Brave with fingerprint protection turned on so that you can't be found.