Anything that is publicly available on the public web, is there for the taking. But apparently, there is a limit into what that can be taken.
Meta Platforms, the company that operates Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and more, has prosecuted Voyager Labs for allegedly creating fake accounts to scrape user data for business purposes.
Meta alleged that the Israeli-based company has improperly gathered data from Facebook, Instagram, and other sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram, using its proprietary software.
According to the tech giant in a statement, Voyager Labs allegedly created over 38,000 fake Facebook user accounts, helping it scrape publicly posted information from over 600,000 other users, including posts, Likes, photos, and friends lists.
The term "scraping" generally refers to the automated process of using software to scan a web page and 'scrape' or obtain information from it.
Voyager Labs specializes in investigative software and services. The goal is to help law enforcements obtain information about suspects, among others.
In other words, Voyager Labs provides "scraping-for-hire" services that uses many IP addresses to collect massive amount of information as quick as possible.
In its own words, Voyager Labs is an "AI-powered investigations" service that collects data from "billions of ‘human pixels’ and signals," and uses AI to map relationships, track geographic locations, and provide other personal data to "agencies tasked with public safety."
And the case here, is not that Meta doesn't like the fact that anyone is snooping into users' data, simply because the data is public.
But the argument here is that, according to Meta, data collection and use of fake accounts violate its terms of service.
Meta claimed that Facebook users that have their data scraped, include "employees of nonprofit organizations, universities, news media organizations, health care facilities, the armed forces of the United States, and local, state, and federal government agencies, as well as full-time parents, retirees, and union members."
While Meta has disabled over 60,000 Voyager Labs-related Facebook and Instagram accounts and pages, including at least 38,000 fake accounts, Meta has sought damages and injunctive relief.
For starters, Mega wants the court to force Voyager Labs to give up the profits it gained from scraping such data.
Meta attorneys began by writing a letter to Voyager Labs on November 11.
“By leveraging this vast ocean of data, they can gain actionable insights on individuals, groups, and topics, and then deep dive to uncover even more,” the complaint said.
In one case, the service used Facebook posts to identify the full names of an Italian marathon runner and his wife who had been infected with COVID-19. The service by Voyager Labs then provided a list of the friends and individuals who had interacted with the two individuals.
In another case, Voyager Labs managed to identify patrons of a UK pub who may have contracted COVID-19.
Among Voyager Labs' customers, include the Los Angeles Police Department.
A testimonial provided by one department member said that Voyager Labs was "able to identify a few new targets in a much easier to read format," and that it was "able to process warrants returns much faster which were much easier to read."
That case caught the attention of privacy advocates and researchers who were concerned that the outcome could potentially harm the work of journalists and watchdog groups who use automation software to monitor public websites and hold companies accountable.
Previously, Meta's most-famous legal cases include the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, in which a political consulting firm improperly obtained user profile data through various methods, and the NSO Group case, where Meta blamed the Israeli company for stealing user data using sophisticated malware.
Further reading: Facebook Sues Ukrainian Hacker For Scraping Data Of Its More Than 178 Million Users