I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here's What I Handed Over

The author, driven by the desire for a LinkedIn verification badge, meticulously reviewed the privacy policies of Persona, the little-known third-party provider behind the verification process. What began as a quest for digital legitimacy quickly morphed into an alarming expose on the extensive data collection, sharing, and legal vulnerabilities users unwittingly accept.

• Data Hoard: Persona collects a vast array of personal information, including full name, passport scans, selfies, facial geometry (biometrics), NFC chip data, national ID, nationality, sex, birthdate, contact details, IP address, device specifics, geolocation, and even behavioral metrics like hesitation and copy-paste detection.
• Third-Party Augmentation: Beyond direct collection, Persona enriches user profiles by cross-referencing data with an array of "trusted third-party data sources," encompassing government databases, consumer credit agencies, and utility providers.
• AI Training & "Legitimate Interest": The identity documents and selfies provided are openly used to train Persona's AI models, a practice justified not by user consent but by Persona's asserted "legitimate interest," raising GDPR compliance questions.
• Extensive Subprocessing Network: While LinkedIn receives limited verification data, Persona shares user data with 17 subprocessors, predominantly US-based companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Groqcloud (for "Data Extraction and Analysis"), and AWS (for "Image Processing"), highlighting a significant transnational data flow.
• CLOUD Act's Long Arm: As a US company, Persona is subject to the US CLOUD Act, which mandates handing over data to US law enforcement, regardless of its storage location (e.g., German servers), potentially without user notification due to gag orders.
• Fragile EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF): The DPF, intended to safeguard EU data, is presented as an unstable solution. It's an Executive Order, not law, vulnerable to political shifts, and already facing legal challenges, echoing the failure of its predecessor, Privacy Shield.
• Biometric Permanence & Retention Risk: Facial geometry, a permanent identifier, is collected. While Persona claims a six-month deletion policy, the CLOUD Act can compel indefinite retention by US authorities, making biometric data compromise irreversible.
• Limited Liability & Mandatory Arbitration: Persona's Terms of Service cap liability for breaches at a mere $50 USD and mandate binding, individual arbitration via the American Arbitration Association, limiting user recourse, especially for Europeans.
• User Empowerment: The author recommends concrete steps for those who have verified, including requesting their data, demanding deletion, and contacting Persona's Data Protection Officer to object to AI training, along with a strong admonition to reconsider future verifications.

The author's journey from seeking a badge to uncovering a privacy quagmire underscores the hidden costs of seemingly simple online actions. What seemed like a three-minute convenience translates into a complex web of data collection, AI training, and legal exposure under US jurisdiction, starkly contrasting the perceived value of a blue checkmark against the irreplaceable value of personal privacy.