Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.

Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613981

  • TootGuitar@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    Yeah, you’re right on that you needed to check for Flash if your site used it. But at the risk of sounding overly pedantic: Flash wasn’t a browser extension either; it was a plugin, which though named similarly were completely different implementation-wise. Browser plugins are not really supported anymore in 2026, due to them having essentially unrestricted access to the host machine.