LinkedIn is scanning your browser extensions to fingerprint and profile users

LinkedIn is scanning users' browser extensions without explicit consent or disclosure in its privacy policy, according to an article on 404privacy.com. The article says the practice has run since at least 2017 and now covers over 6,278 extensions, with the scan working by attempting to fetch specific files from chrome-extension:// URLs to detect installed extensions. It says the collected data is appended to users' LinkedIn profiles and can be used to infer traits such as job searching activity, political leanings, religious practices, and disability status. A criminal investigation has been opened by the Cybercrime Unit of the Bavarian Central Cybercrime Prosecution Office in Germany.