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In this issue:

• Web Nugget - Warning, the new LinkedIn Intro may not be your friend
• Linked Intensive program starts next Monday
• Link to a select post from my blog

Web Nugget: New LinkedIn "Intro" Prompts Warnings

(I go into this item at some length, because it is about very serious issues of privacy online. And see Disclaimer below*. )

I'm a long term Windows and Android user, but every now and then I wonder whether an iPad and/or iPhone would make life more efficient, or just more fun.

Not this past week or so.

In case you missed it, LinkedIn announced with some fanfare its latest move into the mobile space, with the progressive rollout of its new "Intro" feature.  

It allows users to see each other's LinkedIn profile without leaving their email.

At first, I bought the PR spin. This was a good thing, wasn't it?

And I was accordingly a bit miffed that it was only for Apple devices, with no mention of a plan for the rest of us.

Then I started to be relieved that I was not an Apple user and so had not been able to access the new feature and probably would not be able to do so for the foreseeable future.

Because I had begun to pick up on some concerns that all in the garden was not rosy.

For example from global security consulting firm Bishop Fox, whose Bruce Schneier, author of their punningly titled article on the subject, LinkedIn 'Intro'duces Insecurity, wrote:

They call it "doing the impossible", but some might call it "hijacking email".. 

The article  lists and explains ten reasons why we should be concerned about this move by LinkedIn. I commend the articie to you, especially if you use or contemplate using Apple devices.

The article was reprinted, with permission, on the much-visited Salon site, under a more hard-hitting title, 10 reasons to fear LinkedIn's new service.

The respected Australian business magazine, Business Review Weekly (BRW) also came out with a critical article on the LinkedIn move, LinkedIn in privacy storm over claims its iOS apps are 'hijacking email' and observed:

The benefits of LinkedIn Intro would be marginal for many users and the security concerns are not fully answered.

LinkedIn has, of course, responded to the criticisms

LinkedIn has responded to criticisms of the new service but I am in the sceptics' camp now, for the sort of reasons summarized in the Wall St Cheat Sheet piece Here's LinkedIn's Response to Blasts Over 'Intro' Software   

Can you "catch it" unwittingly?

It seems not. My understanding is that it is an invitation-only application and you have to go through a deliberate process of applying to have it. So on that basis, just having a regular LinkedIn app from the iTunes store (or, if it is ever ported to Android, from the Play Store), won't mean that you are suddenly under the sway of the new feature (or enjoying the service, depending on your point of view!).

Linked Intensive Program Starts Next Monday, November 4

A reminder that my new Linked Intensive program starts next Monday, November 4.

As explained in my last Update, this is a 14 day program, delivered wholly online, for participants to turbo-charge their presence, reach, engagement and influence on LinkedIn. .

The program includes:

• daily email, each day on a separate aspect of LinkedIn
• resources including checklists, how-to videos, tracking tools
• online seminars, Q&A sessions
• my personal coaching support

I realize this may not be for you. But maybe you have a colleague, friend or relative, or someone on your staff, who you feel could benefit. If so, I would appreciate your passing on the link:

Linked Intensive: http://deswalsh.com/linked-intensive

Select Blog Post

Is it important to you to be successful? Or is that a silly question?

Actually, I believe there is a more fundamental question, which is about establishing just what success means to each of us. If we like the idea of success, and who but the most misanthropic, pessimistic, fatalistic amongst us does not, just how would we define or describe success?

I looked at this question in my blog post How Do You Define Success?  and shared an exercise I learned long ago from coaching legend Thomas Leonard.I hope the post might give you some food for useful/entertaining thought (and checking back on that today I noticed there is a prompt in it to contact me for a bit of no-charge coaching on the subject).

To your success (whatever that means for you!

Des

PS: as always, I hunger for some feedback on these updates - requests for more of..., less of..., etc. Drop me a line at deswalsh@webartsco.com

PPS: If you are not on the list yet to receive this regular weekly update in your email inbox, and would like to try it (there is always an unsubscribe link in every update) you can register for that at this link.

*PPPS:  Disclaimer: this item, as for anything technical in this Update, comes with the caveat "I am not a techie". I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of this or other technology-related issues - simply reporting and alerting. Please do your own due diligence and do not rely on this or other Updates of mine for business decisions.)