GoKawiilA LinkedIn feature the average non-paying user likely only glances past could end up setting a legal precedent in the EU regarding how companies treat customer data that they've processed.
Take a look at your LinkedIn profile, if you have one, and you'll see a space where you can look at profile viewers. For premium LinkedIn users, the list of people who visit one's profile goes back 365 days and includes names, job title and employer, and an easy link to the person's profile, unless they've toggled their visibility off for privacy reasons.
What a premium LinkedIn user sees when they look at their profile viewers
Non-premium LinkedIn users, on the other hand, don't get nearly the same level of visibility on their profiles. If you don't fork over cash to LinkedIn owner Microsoft each month for the privilege, you'll just see things like "12 people found you though the homepage," or that someone with a certain job title from a certain company was scoping out your LinkedIn page.
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Clicking anything on the free user list redirects you to a LinkedIn premium signup page or search results for employees at one of the aforementioned companies.
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What you'll see on the profile viewers screen if you don't have a paid-for LinkedIn account
One unnamed LinkedIn user refused to accept this lesser status, and approached Microsoft to exercise their GDPR Article 15 right to a copy of their personal data processed by LinkedIn. "Processed" can mean a variety of things, including something as broad as simply hosting a particular type of information.
LinkedIn rejected the request on the grounds that protecting that data took precedence. Now the data protection warriors at EU privacy outfit Noyb ("none of your business") are getting involved.
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