The professional networking site LinkedIn has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Indianapolis-based tech company Kennected, accusing it of engaging in multiple violations of LinkedIn’s user agreement. Kennected, founded in 2018, offers software that allows users to automate their outreach to prospective customers via LinkedIn. Just over half of the company’s 140 employees work at its headquarters in Pan Am Tower, with the others working either remotely around the U.S. or in a coding and development office in India. In a letter to Kennected this week, a copy of which was obtained by IBJ, LinkedIn accuses the company of, among other things, scraping LinkedIn members’ profiles and exporting their data without the members’ consent; and offering tools that “impermissibly automate mass, inauthentic activity” on LinkedIn’s platform. These activities are violations of LinkedIn’s terms of service, the letter says. “Services like Kennected that scrape member data and facilitate the use of automated fake engagement will not be tolerated.” Kennected cofounder and CEO Devin Johnson said the company was “blindsided” by the communication, which he and his cofounders received via email at 1:04 a.m. Friday. “We were surprised by the letter, as we believe we are compliant,” Johnson said. “We are working to
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Indianapolis-based Kennected hit with cease-and-desist letter from LinkedIn
