The Microsoft-owned platform announced Thursday that it is offering its 22 million Canadian members the ability to verify their profile by providing a copy of their government ID to an external LinkedIn partner company.

The optional verification method, which has been available to users in the US since spring, is designed to build trust in the platform and strengthen security in the digital age, where identity can be critical, said the national director of LinkedIn and senior director of Strategic Accounts, Diana Luu.

“It’s a big concern for people. We know that,” she said.

“We really wanted to add an extra level of protection against identity theft and other fraudulent activity. »

LinkedIn’s latest community report reveals that between July and December 2022, the company suspended 201,000 fake accounts after members reported them. Another 44.7 million fake accounts were banned during login and 13.2 million were banned before members reported them in the same period.

About 87.4% of fake accounts were detected through automated technology, while 12.6% were discovered through manual verification.

Partnership with Clear

LinkedIn’s move to counter fake accounts with ID documents comes in the form of a partnership with Clear, a New York-based company already used in the US for biometric access to sports venues and fields. Boarding at the airport. Clear is the same company that uses LinkedIn for its US verification program.

Users who wish to verify their identity on LinkedIn create an account with Clear and are required to take a picture of themselves, provide a picture of their government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and consent to the sharing of their information with LinkedIn.

If the pictures and names match, LinkedIn will add a green tick to the user’s profile and a note explaining that their account has been verified using government identification.

Throughout the process, Clear will seek consent to securely share its users’ names, addresses, dates of birth, document types, and issuers with LinkedIn, according to LinkedIn.

Once LinkedIn receives the information, it will store the data for as long as the person chooses to keep their verification, Ms said^Me luu

Any information LinkedIn receives from Clear will not be visible on LinkedIn profiles, and LinkedIn will not share any personally identifiable information with Clear before, during or after verification, she added.

“We’re going through the proper verification process and hope members can trust us as a platform and our partners to keep their data and privacy safe and secure,” said Frau^Me luu

Clear’s privacy policy states that the company never sells consumer data and that it will delete all data upon request if someone no longer wishes to use its services.

Clear controls don’t affect its algorithms or the prominence of its content on the platform, but M^Me Luu pointed out that the US launch has already shown that those with verified accounts benefit from the added layer of authenticity.

“We see that they are more likely to find the career opportunities that are important to them, connect with people, and enjoy truly authentic, more believable interactions on our platform,” she noted.

The Clear program comes months after LinkedIn’s vice president of product management said in a blog post in October that fraudulent activity would become even more prevalent online as the world saw “rapid advances” in artificial intelligence (AI)-based synthetic imagery.

“AI-based image generators can create an unlimited number of unique, high-quality profile photos that don’t match real people,” wrote Oscar Rodriquez.

“Fake accounts sometimes use these compelling AI-generated profile pictures to make their fake LinkedIn profile more authentic. »

To counter the proliferation of these accounts, LinkedIn has started using a deep learning model that proactively checks profile picture uploads to determine if the pictures are AI-generated.