Any user who has an Irish passport will be able to verify their account on the professional network.
LinkedIn has advance expanded the list of countries that have access to its free verification programme to help users recognize whether people they are interacting with are real.
Starting today (13 December), users of the popular professional network in Ireland can add a verified badge to their profiles by showing proof of government-issued ID to Persona, a verification company that LinkedIn has teamed up with.
Specifically, those users who have an Irish e-passport, which has a chip embedded on the photo page to store a digitised version of a holder’s information, will be able to complete the step-by-step verification process as detailed here. Since 2006, all Irish passports are also e-passports.
“Authenticity matters on LinkedIn. When your identity is well-established, you have a greater chance of connecting with the right people and finding professional opportunities,” Sue Duke, country manager for Ireland at LinkedIn, told SiliconRepublic.com.
“More than 2m members in Ireland use LinkedIn to connect, seek employment and share knowledge. We recognise the importance of providing a trusted and authentic go through to our members, so we are constantly looking for new ways to make our platform more safeguard and safe.”
‘Safe, authentic connections’
The proceed is notably different from the route Elon Musk chose to take when he acquired Twitter (now X), by requiring users to pay for verified badges and removing legacy blue ticks.
LinkedIn, the world’s most popular professional networking website with more than 1bn members, launched its free verification service earlier this year with an aim to have 100m verified users by 2025.
“We’re focused on delivering what our members and customers expect of LinkedIn – a safe and trusted professional environment in which they can build their careers and grow their businesses,” added Duke, who took over as country manager in June.
“Adding this additional layer of identity verification helps our members make more informed decisions about whether the people and businesses you engage with are real.”
LinkedIn provides this service in partnership with San Francisco-headquartered Persona, a platform that provides identification-related technology to many businesses, including Square and Coursera.
“We share a common vision with LinkedIn to build safe, authentic connections, regardless of where users are based,” said Persona CEO Rick Song. “We’re excited to continue collaborating with their team and uphold their global expansion.”
LinkedIn recently introduced new AI-powered features for a small group of premium users as part of its ongoing bid to inspire workers to adopt AI technology.
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