Step-by-step instructions to remove an application from your LinkedIn account so that it can't access your profile and connections.

1. Removing applications that can
access your LinkedIn account:
Step-by-step instructions.

2. Immediately after discovering that an application (FounderDating)
spammed some of my LinkedIn connections—under my name, no
less—I went searching for the way to revoke that application’s
access to my LinkedIn account.

3. If you get a message like this that appears to come from a friend or
colleague, be very careful . . .
. . . especially if you click through, grant access to your
LinkedIn account, and complete and submit the brief
recommendation questions, all the while believing that
you’re helping your friend and colleague.

4. These are the colleagues that FounderDating pulled from my LinkedIn
connections. If you chose to “vouch” for them and didn’t notice the
fine print below, you probably didn’t realize that clicking “Agree” will
send them spam under your name—until it’s too late.

5. [your first name goes here]
This is a preview of the message—the preview you didn’t see
unless you noticed the small dark grey on black text below the box
with your contacts.
And as if spamming your friends under your name isn’t enough,
they include your strong endorsement—”I highly recommend
applying”—and they do it with oh-so-hip attitude: “You can thank
me later.”

6. To see the applications that can access your LinkedIn
profile, go to “Settings” under your name in the upper
right-hand corner of your browser window.
your name

7. Then select “Groups, Companies & Applications”

8. Then select “View your applications”

9. Check the box next to the application you want to remove—
in this case, “FounderDating”—and then click on “Remove”
at the bottom.

10. After the page refreshes, this will appear at the top.

11. This is the message I drafted and sent to friends and colleagues who
were spammed by FounderDating’s system, all under my name. I
hope you don’t find yourself in the same position of having to
apologize to your friends and colleagues.