LinkedIn verification is an annoying anti-pattern. First, I needed to download their app. Why? Why can't I do this on my computer? I'm on an iPhone so usually the security controls are okay but I really hate downloading apps. They have in the past done things like upload people's entire contacts after being installed.

But okay I bit the bullet. Now I need to verify myself with Clear? UGH! Again, why? Now I have to read Clear's privacy policy to see what they are doing with my data? I see them at the airport and I think they have something to do with collecting biometric information to verify my identity. Are they selling it to other people? Have they ever been hacked? In the future will they ever be hacked? I'm a little gobsmacked I have to do this to use a social network.

Is verification like this necessary? I don't work at LinkedIn so I don't know what went into this decision. But, I'd really appreciate at least some acknowlegement of why they need verification at all and why this type of verification was selected. Instead, they just tell me that verified users get more traction on their account. Great, thanks for pressing me to do this.

I was talking with someone else about this and they said they tried to verify but it didn't work. So, we have an onerous system and it doesn't work. Not great.

It is a bummer when companies use their weight to press on users. LinkedIn knows people need to work. So, they know people are desperate and willing to jump through hoops to have the best shot at getting a job. So, they implement this wacko verification system and leave people in a lurch. Get a job or give up my data? Not a trade I want to make. The steps aren't worth it for me for now. But, maybe in the future I'll be more desperate...