LinkedIn

professional network · live · since May 2003

People keep CV-style profiles, connect with colleagues, post and discuss work topics, message each other, and look for jobs or candidates.

how dependent?

  1. 07OperatorIELinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company
  2. OwnerUSMicrosoft Corporation
  3. ProtocolUSLinkedIn Corporation
  4. Shared services–None
  5. CodeUSLinkedIn Corporation
  6. VerificationUSPersona
  7. 06ModelsUSLinkedInUSMicrosoft (Azure OpenAI Service)
  8. 05DataUSLinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company
  9. 04ServersUSLinkedIn CorporationUSMicrosoft Azure
  10. EdgeUSCloudflareUSFastlyUSAkamai
  11. 03–01Belowcompute, networks and resources are not recorded per app

Every layer above links to what it rests on. The figure counts the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the UK as European, as the landscape does.

How it is run

nine questions
ArchitectureWho holds your account and posts?

One company

open protocol: no

move your account and keep your followers: no

hub: LinkedIn (Microsoft)

A closed, centralised network whose members' data sits in LinkedIn's US data centres; most API access needs LinkedIn's approval. No route was found to move a profile with its connections and followers to another provider.

Business modelWho pays, and for what?

Subscriptions · targeted ads

Microsoft reports LinkedIn revenue of $19.8bn for the year to June 2026 without figures per line; it describes Talent Solutions, Sales Solutions and Premium Subscriptions as subscription offerings and Marketing Solutions as sponsored content (ads). The last split LinkedIn published, for mid-2022, had Talent Solutions above $6bn and Marketing Solutions above $5bn, so the three subscription lines together then outweighed ads; putting subscriptions first today is that inference. Ads are targeted on profile and activity data.

OrganisationWhat kind of organisation runs it?

Listed company

control: Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq); widely held, with no shareholder near a majority (largest: Vanguard 8.95%, BlackRock 7.30%)

Microsoft has owned LinkedIn since December 2016 and has one class of common stock, so votes follow shares.

FeedWho decides what you see?

Ranked, with a non-profiled option

The feed shows personalised Top posts by default. Members can switch to Recent, which in the EEA shows all updates from their network in reverse chronological order without using interests or activity, and can make that choice permanent in settings.

ModerationWho moderates?

The operator

LinkedIn's own moderators and automated systems review content against the Professional Community Policies; for January to June 2026 it reported 52 internal and 1,312 contracted moderators. Group owners and managers can approve, reject or delete posts in their groups, a small part of what members see.

AI trainingDoes your content train AI?

Trains its own AI, with an opt-out

a setting or form to opt out: yes

Since 3 November 2025 LinkedIn trains its content-generating AI models on EU members' profiles, posts, comments, group activity and saved CVs, on the basis of legitimate interests; private messages and likely minors are excluded. The Data for Generative AI Improvement setting opts out of future training, and an objection form covers other AI models. In the EU the data is not shared with Microsoft for its own training (that applies to the UK only), and no licensing to outside companies was found. The Irish DPC required changes and a report within five months but did not approve the plan.

IdentityMust you prove who you are?

No ID needed

verification: Persona

Read off the verification layer, where its sources are.

Open sourceIs the code open?

Closed source

licence: proprietary

Read off the code layer, where its sources are.

SizeHow big is it?

56.4M a month in the EU

counted: average monthly active recipients in the EU, as the DSA requires them

period: Jan–Jun 2026

LinkedIn's figure counts logged-in members, rounded to the nearest 100,000; logged-out site visits (213.1 million a month in early 2025) are reported separately and not de-duplicated. The August 2026 report gives the total only; the logged-in definition is from the August 2025 report (54.7 million).

What each layer rests on

checked 25 Sep 2026
07OperatorWho serves the app?

LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company · Ireland

Dublin, CRO 477441. Members in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland contract with it, and it is their data controller and the DSA provider. Designated a very large online platform on 25 April 2023; 56.4 million average monthly active recipients in the EU, January to June 2026, counting logged-in members. In EU app stores the apps are published by LinkedIn Corporation (US).

07OwnerWho owns the operator, where someone else does?

Microsoft Corporation · United States

Microsoft bought LinkedIn in December 2016. It lists LinkedIn Ireland and LinkedIn Corporation as separate subsidiaries; press reports name Microsoft Ireland Research as the Irish company's immediate parent.

07ProtocolWho writes the rules of the network?

LinkedIn Corporation · United States

protocol: proprietary

A closed platform whose APIs mostly need LinkedIn's approval.

07Shared servicesWhat does it lean on but not run?

None

07CodeWho builds the software?

LinkedIn Corporation · United States

licence: proprietary

LinkedIn has engineering teams in Dublin working on AI and infrastructure; its engineering hubs are in the US, Bangalore and Beijing.

07VerificationWho checks users' identity, age or account?

Persona · United States

checks: identity

ID needed to post: no

Identity verification is optional. For EU members it runs through Persona, with a passport, national ID card or residence permit and a selfie. Some work experience needs a work email or Microsoft Entra Verified ID to add or edit. No national eID or EU digital identity wallet route was found.

06ModelsWhose models moderate, rank or check?

LinkedIn · United States

also Microsoft (Azure OpenAI Service) · United States: models behind the generative AI features

Since 3 November 2025 LinkedIn trains its content-generating models on EU members' profiles and public posts, on the basis of legitimate interests, unless members opt out. The Irish DPC has not approved the plan and asked LinkedIn for a report.

05DataWhere does the data sit?

LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company · United States

where: The United States. LinkedIn Ireland sends every EU member's personal data to LinkedIn Corporation to be processed and stored in its US data centres.

transfers: To LinkedIn Corporation and suppliers under standard contractual clauses, and under the Data Privacy Framework, which LinkedIn Corporation has joined. The Irish DPC fined LinkedIn €310 million in October 2024 over targeted advertising; LinkedIn has appealed.

04ServersWho runs the servers?

LinkedIn Corporation · United States

also Microsoft Azure · United States: used alongside LinkedIn's own data centres, including Azure Front Door

region: LinkedIn's own US data centres; the origin headers name prod-lva1, prod-lor1 and prod-ltx1, which read as Virginia, Oregon and Texas

A full move to Azure was planned in 2019 and paused in 2022. Microsoft's EU Data Boundary does not cover LinkedIn.

04EdgeWho stands in front of them?

Cloudflare · United States

also Fastly · United States: some static assets and embeds, steered by LinkedIn's DNS

also Akamai · United States: the Insight Tag script loaded on advertisers' sites

  • measured · www.linkedin.com · AS13335 Cloudflare · 25 Sep 2026 · origin header x-li-fabric prod-lva1
  • measured · media.licdn.com · AS13335 Cloudflare · 25 Sep 2026 · images

where a claim in circulation is wrong

Checked 25 Sep 2026.