LinkedIn privacy settings on Android: Tight level

What for: So you do not get hacked.

If your password is short and simple, cybercriminals can guess it and hijack your account. A long and complex password is more secure. Use a strong password that:

• Is at least 8 characters long;
• Contains lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters ($, @, etc.);
• Is not an actual word or easy-to-guess phrase;
• Is not the same as your passwords for any other accounts;
• Does not consist of information that strangers could easily find out (your name, date of birth, pet's name, and so forth — or those of your friends or relatives).

To change your LinkedIn password:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to Sign in & security section and tap Change password;
3. Enter your current password;
4. Enter a new strong password twice;
5. Tick the Require all devices to sign in with new password check box;
6. Tap Save.

What for: So you definitely don't get hacked.

You can increase the security of your account by enabling 2-step verification. Then, every time you try to sign in to your LinkedIn account, you will have to provide a one-time code received via text message or through a special app. Even if cybercriminals get hold of your username and password, they will not be able to log in to your account without this code.

To enable two-step verification via text message:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Sign in & security section;
3. Tap Two-step verification;
4. Tap On next to Two-step verification is turned off. If you have never turned on two-step verification, tap Set up;
5. In the Choose your verification method drop-down list, select Phone Number (SMS) and tap Continue;
6. Enter your phone number if you have not done it earlier, then enter your LinkedIn account password and tap Send code;
7. In the corresponding box on the page, enter the verification code you've received and tap Verify.

To receive verification codes through an authenticator app:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings from the drop-down list;
2. In the window that opens, select the Sign in & security section and tap Two-step verification;
3. Make sure that two-step verification is turned on;
4. Tap Change verification method. In the Choose your verification method drop-down list, select Authenticator App and tap Continue;
5. Enter your LinkedIn account password and tap Submit;
6. Add your LinkedIn account to the app by using the QR code or the secret key provided on the screen;
7. Get the 6-digit verification code in the authenticator app and enter it in the corresponding box;
8. Tap Verify.

What for: So that strangers do not know too much about you.

By default, your LinkedIn profile data is visible to all users, even if they do not have an account. In addition, information from your profile is indexed by search engines and ends up in their search results. If you want to restrict access to this data, make your profile private:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Select Edit your public profile;
4. Under Edit Visibility, turn off Your profile's public visibility.

If you do not want to make your profile completely private, configure the visibility of the following items individually:

• Public profile data;
• Connections;
• Last name;
• Your data intended for users of external resources such as Outlook where LinkedIn contact cards can be added.

To configure which of your account data will be public, do the following under Edit Visibility:

1. Select who may view your Profile Photo;
2. Limit the visibility of the Headline, Articles & Activity, Current Experience, and Past Experience fields to keep them from being visible to all users.

To configure the visibility of your connections:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Select the following:
4. Connections;
5. Who can see your last name;
6. Who can see or download your email address;
7. To block search engines from accessing your profile data, tap Profile discovery and visibility off LinkedIn and turn off this option.

What for: To avoid ending up in a spam e-mail database.

The LinkedIn data export capability enables users to download the e-mail addresses of all their connections. Cybercriminals can create a fake account, add users to their connections, and download their e-mail addresses to obtain a list for mass spam e-mails. To keep people from downloading your e-mail address when exporting data:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Tap Who can see or download your email address;
4. Select Only visible to me;
5. Turn off the toggle under Allow your connections to download your email in their data export?

What for: To keep strangers from learning who and what you are interested in.

By default, all LinkedIn users can see the photo and name of people who visited their page. If you do not want to inform profile owners that you viewed their data, hide information about your visits:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Tap Profile viewing options;
4. Select Private mode.

Downside: If you have a basic account, you will not be able to see who viewed your profile. If you have Premium status, you will see all visitors of your page except for those using private mode.

What for: To keep unwanted people from finding your profile.

People can use the phone number and e-mail address specified in your LinkedIn profile to find your account. This is convenient, but not always safe. For example, fraudsters can gather your personal information this way.

To keep people from finding your profile by your phone number or e-mail address:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Tap Profile discovery using email address and select 1st degree connections;
4. Tap Profile discovery using phone number and select Nobody.

Downside: It will be harder for potential employers, partners, and colleagues to find your profile.

What for: So that strangers do not know too much about you.

LinkedIn users can receive notifications regarding changes to your profile data and mentions of your account in other members' news or posts. If you do not want strangers to keep tabs on your life, turn off this feature:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Disable the options:
4. Share profile updates with your network;
5. Notify connections when you're in the news.

To delete mentions and tags by other users, do the following in the Settings menu:

1. Go to the Visibility section;
2. Tap Mentions or Tags and turn off this option.

If you want to delete a mention of you from another user's post:

1. Open the post from which you want to remove the mention;
2. Tap the three dots button in the upper right corner of the window;
3. Select Remove mention;
4. Tap Remove.

What for: To not get spied on.

By default, all LinkedIn users can follow you and receive notifications about your activity. To keep anyone who is not one of your connections from following you:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Under Visibility of your LinkedIn activity, select Followers;
4. Tap Your connections.

What for: To keep LinkedIn from learning too much about you.

LinkedIn can use the contact lists of other services, such as e-mail or calendar on your smartphone. Based on this data, the social network gives you suggestions on who you should follow, receives data on meetings and tasks, generates a news feed, and selects targeted ads. In addition, this information may be shared with third parties, which increases the risk of leaks.

To delete other contacts and calendar information from your profile:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Select the Account preference section;
3. Tap Sync contacts or Sync calendar;
4. Turn off synchronization and tap Manage all synced sources. Next to Contacts and Calendar, tap Remove all to delete the data.

What for: So that LinkedIn does not share your information with third parties.

LinkedIn may send your profile information to analysts for research and improvement. If you do not want to share this data with strangers, stop the social network from doing this:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Data privacy section;
3. Tap Social, economic, and workplace research;
4. Turn off the toggle in this section.

Note that LinkedIn will still transmit depersonalized information about your account to its partners, for example, for fraud prevention.

What for: To keep LinkedIn from learning what you are interested in.

LinkedIn saves your search queries to personalize your searches, ads, and news feed. If you do not want your search queries to be used for personalization of social network content, keep the service from saving them:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Data privacy section;
3. Tap Search history;
4. Tap Clear search history and confirm this action.

What for: To hide from LinkedIn how you respond to employers.

When you respond to a job opening, the employer may ask you to fill out an application on their website or on LinkedIn. In both cases, LinkedIn saves your answers and uses them to improve the service and enhance targeted ad selection. If you do not want to share your answers with LinkedIn, keep it from saving this information:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Data privacy section;
3. Tap Job application settings;
4. Turn off Save and manage your resumes and answers option.

What for: To decide for yourself what information to provide.

When you respond to a job opening, the employer receives a full copy of your LinkedIn profile. If you do not want to share this information, keep the social network from sending it:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Data privacy section;
3. Tap Share your profile when you click Apply for a job;
4. Turn off the toggle in this section.

What for: To see which of your data is saved by LinkedIn.

Within the LinkedIn app, it is impossible to download your account data. To do so, follow the instructions for configuring the web version.

What for: To keep LinkedIn from personalizing ads based on your actions and interests.

LinkedIn may use various information about you and your activity on the social network for ad-selection purposes. If you are annoyed by targeted ads, stop the use of your data.

To turn off ad personalization:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Advertising data section;
3. Turn off the toggles in the following sections:
4. Profile data for personalizing ads;
5. Interest categories;
6. Connections;
7. Location;
8. Demographics;
9. Companies you follow;
10. Groups;
11. Education;
12. Job information;
13. Employer;
14. Audience insights for websites you visit;
15. Ads outside of LinkedIn;
16. Interactions with businesses;
17. Ad-related actions.

After doing this, you will continue to see ads, but they will not be based on your personal data.

What for: To avoid distractions and focus on what is important.

Notifications about private messages, comments and other activity in LinkedIn may appear as pop-up messages or arrive by e-mail. Frequent notifications can be annoying, and getting a large number of them increases the chances that you will miss something important.

To disable excessive notifications:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Communications section;
3. Under How you get your notifications, go through the On LinkedIn, Email, and Push sections and turn off the notifications you do not want to receive.

What for: To keep strangers from seeing your notifications.

Even when you're not on the LinkedIn website, you may see pop-up notifications about incoming messages, invitations, job ads, and your network connections' activities. They may also appear on your device sign-in screen. If you do not want strangers to see them in your absence, disable push notifications:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Communications section;
3. Under How you get your notifications, go through the Push section and turn off all notifications for all categories.

Downside: You will be able to view notifications only on the LinkedIn website.

What for: To avoid communicating with unpleasant people.

To stop a user from viewing your profile, commenting on your posts, or sending you messages, block them:

1. Go to the profile of the user you wish to block;
2. Tap … in the profile header;
3. Select Report/Block;
4. Tap Block member;
5. Tap Block.

The user will not know you've blocked them.

What for: To hide that you are online.

By default, all LinkedIn users can see when you are on the website or when you were last logged in. If you do not want strangers to know when you are online, make your network status visible to your contacts only or to nobody.

To configure your network status:

1. Tap your profile picture in the top menu and select Settings;
2. Go to the Visibility section;
3. Tap Manage active status;
4. Select Your Connections only or No one.

Downside: You also will not be able to see the network status of other users.