LinkedIn merges SlideShare and Pulse’s Terms of Service into its own, makes changes effective on March 26

LinkedIn today announced changes to its Terms of Service, which includes its User Agreement and Privacy Policy, that will go into effect on March 26. The company also says it will integrate the existing Terms of Service for both SlideShare and Pulse into LinkedIn’s, so members only have one set of terms to agree to when interacting with its properties.

Other changes to the Terms of Service include:

• Member data: In Section 2.14, LinkedIn clarifies it will take steps to let members know about demands for their data unless it is legally prohibited from doing so, or the request is deemed an emergency. LinkedIn also says it may dispute such demands if it believes they are too broad, too vague, or lack proper authority.
• In Section 2.12, LinkedIn clarifies that its corporate offerings include Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, and Sales Solutions.
• Mobile numbers: In Section 1.2, LinkedIn includes the forthcoming option to use your mobile number to sign in to LinkedIn.
• Content Availability: In Section 4.1, LinkedIn emphasizes it’s important to be transparent that sometimes laws may require it to remove certain content (e.g. when it’s hurtful or infringing on others’ rights).

While the first two points are nothing new, the third is interesting as it hints what LinkedIn is planning for its mobile offerings. The fourth point shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given LinkedIn’s recent venture into China.

As for the changes regarding SlideShare and Pulse, the company is looking to make improvements that bring the two even closer into LinkedIn. It offers two examples: SlideShare can be personalized based on your LinkedIn profile, your network, and your engagement with content from both services, and Pulse will be able to deliver more relevant personalized professional content. We’ll share details on those integrations as we learn more.

See also – LinkedIn partners with 7 online education firms to let users add certifications and courses to their profiles and LinkedIn redesigns the inbox with larger pictures, centralized navigation, and message previews

Top Image Credit: mariosundar / Flickr