LinkedIn sues plug-in software firm Sell Hack for users' leaked email addresses

Professional networking site LinkedIn is reportedly taking legal action over a free plug-in software that exposes email addresses of its users via a web browser add-on tool.

The plug-in tool called Sell Hack is available as a free extension to the Chrome browser that, once installed, will pop up a "hack in" button on LinkedIn profiles, the BBC reported.

However, Sell Hack said that it had created the plug-in tool for marketing professionals and insisted that all data was out in the open, for the public to see.

The company wrote on its website that it just did the heavy lifting and complicated computing to save users' time, adding that it wasn't doing anything malicious to LinkedIn.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn refused to buy Sell Hack's explanation and said that it was doing everything in its power to shut Sell Hack down.

A spokesman for LinkedIn said that on 31 March LinkedIn's legal team delivered Sell Hack a cease-and-desist letter as a result of several violations.

The professional network also cautioned users against downloading any third party extension and asked members to immediately uninstall Sell Hack and contact the latter requesting that their data be deleted.