Thread

LinkedIn wins court order blocking mass scraping of user data

52 points · 33 comments · ilamont

collabs · 1790268648 · focus · HN ↗
I created a second LinkedIn account for testing purposes and recently I started getting this which I thought was strange as this account had been live for several years. What changed recently? Could this restriction also be because of the push to block mass scraping?
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Access to your account has been temporarily restricted
Why did this happen?
We take proactive actions to protect you when we detect potential unauthorized access or other activity that doesn’t comply with our policies.
What can I do next?
We first need to verify your identity to ensure your account safety. To regain access to your account, please submit a government-issued ID.
Learn more about verifying your identity.
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1. toasty228 · 1790268738 · focus · HN ↗
  They've been doing this for a while, they also scan your browser for thousands of known extensions... It's basically impossible to create a new account unless you send them a pictures of your balls next to a valid passport
  1. toomuchtodo · 1790269013 · focus · HN ↗
    > they also scan your browser for thousands of known extensions
    Works in Chrome, doesn't work in Firefox. Firefox randomizes extension IDs per install.
    "Chrome extensions can expose internal files to web pages through the web_accessible_resources field in their manifest.json. When an extension is installed and has exposed a resource, a fetch() request to chrome-extension://{id}/{file} will succeed. When the extension is not installed, Chrome blocks the request and the promise rejects.
    LinkedIn tests every extension in the list this way."
    <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613981">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613981
    <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47967262">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47967262
2. whythismatters · 1790275866 · focus · HN ↗
  I recently tried to revive my account after not having accessed it for a decade or so. They asked for my gov issued ID, to be processed by the Persona service. Um, hell no.
  1. bluefirebrand · 1790278226 · focus · HN ↗
    Facebook has been doing this to me too when trying to revive my old account for using stuff like Marketplace.
    I get wanting some kind of verification but hell no I'm not giving you a photo of my ID.
    Let me make a new account then. But they won't.

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