LinkedIn is introducing new ways to verify your identity and where you work, the company announced Wednesday. Unlike Twitter and Meta, LinkedIn’s new verification measures don’t include paid subscriptions or blue ticks.
The company has partnered with CLEAR, a secure identity platform, to provide authentication to LinkedIn users in the United States. Starting this month, users on your profile will be able to show that they’ve verified your identity with CLEAR. To do this, you must provide your government-issued ID and phone number.
Once you have verified your identity, your profile will display a new “Verifications” section under the “Connect” and “Message” buttons. Users who visit your profile will see a check mark next to the “Government ID” banner indicating that you have “a verified government ID.”
LinkedIn users around the world also have the option to verify where they work with their work email. To confirm your location, you must enter a verification code sent to your business email address. LinkedIn notes that this feature works with more than 4,000 companies on the platform. The platform plans to roll out this option to more companies over time.
Image Credits: LinkedIn
Alternatively, LinkedIn is partnering with Microsoft to enable organizations to leverage the Microsoft Entra Verified ID platform to issue free digital workplace IDs to eligible users. The new option will be rolled out at the end of this month. LinkedIn plans to make this option available to dozens of participating companies reaching more than two million LinkedIn members.
“Through all of these new, free features, we help give you confidence that who you connect with and the content you encounter is trustworthy and authentic,” the company wrote in a blog post. “While all LinkedIn members worldwide will not immediately have access to these verification options, we will expand availability and ways for you to participate over time. We will keep you posted as we continue to roll out more features like this.”
The new verification features come as LinkedIn introduced ways to verify your phone number and email address last fall. It’s worth noting that these two verification options won’t show up on your profile with verification badges, unlike the new options announced today that feature prominently in user profiles.
Unlike Twitter and Meta, which bundled verification with additional features, LinkedIn chooses to keep its verification features focused on confirming users’ identities in hopes of providing an extra layer of protection when it comes to fake or scam accounts. Twitter’s paid verification option is bundled with the Blue plan, which costs $8 per month, and gives users access to other benefits, such as fewer ads. Meta’s verification option, called Meta Verified, is available on Instagram and Facebook and costs $11.99 per month on web and $14.99 per month on mobile.
LinkedIn says it believes that verification should be available to everyone, which is why the verification features will be available for free.