Microsoft's LinkedIn is scanning installed browser extensions without user permission, according to a report by Fairlinked e. V. The advocacy group alleges LinkedIn probes extensions via JavaScript on its website, detecting identifiers for over 6,000 extensions and potentially building profiles using data users never consented to share.

This method, which relies on Chromium-based browser behaviors, is less effective on Apple's Safari due to its restricted extension system. The practice, if proven, likely violates European privacy laws, especially given LinkedIn's gatekeeper status under the EU's Digital Markets Act. Neither LinkedIn nor Microsoft has responded publicly to the allegations as scrutiny mounts.