
Meta Takes Legal Action Against Data-Scraping Firm for LAPD Data Sale
Voyager Labs made fake user profiles to gather information on more than 600,000 real individuals, and then they sold this information to the LAPD for criminal profiling purposes.

Meta revealed its plans to take legal action against a data scraping company named Voyager Labs. Meta accuses Voyager Labs of gathering publicly available information from Facebook and Instagram users in an improper manner and then selling this data to various organizations, including the LAPD.
According to reports from The Verge and other media outlets, the LAPD used this data to create profiles of individuals who might become involved in future criminal activities. Critics have raised concerns about the methods and algorithms used in this strategy, labeling them as overly simplistic, unethical, and potentially biased.
The public became aware of Voyager Labs’ tactics back in November 2021, thanks to a report from The Guardian. However, it was only recently that Meta took decisive action against the company. According to a legal complaint filed on Thursday, Meta not only banned Voyager Labs but also removed more than 38,000 fake user profiles from its social media platforms.
Voyager Labs allegedly employed a proprietary software system to conduct multiple campaigns using fake accounts spread across a wide network of computers in various countries to conceal its activities.
Meta claims that through these actions, Voyager Labs gathered a wealth of information, including “profile information, posts, friends lists, photos, and comments,” from over 600,000 users. Subsequently, these datasets were sold to third-party buyers, including the LAPD, for their own purposes.
Meta’s legal complaint asserts that Voyager Labs violated Meta’s Terms of Service by creating fake accounts and engaging in unauthorized and automated scraping of user data. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Voyager Labs employed similar strategies on other platforms, including Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
“We cannot comment on this aspect of the legal action,” a spokesperson for Meta.
Dealing with situations like the alleged actions of Voyager Labs can be challenging, even for tech giants like Meta. Legal cases can progress slowly, and during this time, the companies engaging in potentially illegal activities may feel emboldened by what they perceive as inaction.
Meta has previously taken legal action against another data-scraping company, Octopus, for gathering information on more than 350,000 Instagram users. This highlights a pattern of Meta’s efforts to protect its users & data from such practices.

Meta is pursuing a permanent injunction against Voyager Labs, aiming to prevent the company from engaging in such activities in the future. Additionally, Meta is seeking restitution for any “ill-gotten profits,” with the exact amount to be determined during the trial.
It’s worth noting that the request does not specify whether compensation will be extended to Meta’s users who were affected by Voyager Labs’ actions. The specifics of user compensation may become clearer as the legal proceedings unfold.
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