Skip to content

menu

Proskauer Rose LLP logo
HomeAboutOur TeamContactSubscribe All Topics
Search
Close

New Media and Technology Law Blog

scraping attack

Subscribe to scraping attack via RSS

Trove of Online LinkedIn User Data Fuels LinkedIn’s Anti-Scraping Position

By Jeffrey Neuburger on April 13, 2021

Last week, the Italian data protection authority (the “GPDP”) opened an investigation after reports that a dataset allegedly containing data compiled from 500 million LinkedIn profiles and other websites was available for sale on a hacker forum.  Apparently, this data represents more than two-thirds of LinkedIn’s estimated 740 million users.  The hacker reportedly posted approximately two million records visibly online as evidence of the dataset, and offered to sell the rest for an undisclosed bitcoin payment.

According to a statement by LinkedIn, the company investigated the posting and determined that it is “an aggregation of data from a number of websites and companies,” including publicly viewable LinkedIn member profile data that apparently was scraped from LinkedIn’s site. LinkedIn stated that it was not a data breach because no private member profile data was included in the dataset it was able to review. LinkedIn stated that such scraping of data violated its terms.

The posting of this scraped data immediately reminds us of the ongoing scraping dispute between LinkedIn and data analytics start-up hiQ, Inc. (“hiQ”).  The principal issue in the case concerns the scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) liability associated with web scraping of publicly available social media profile data. In a prior ruling, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s order granting a preliminary injunction barring LinkedIn from blocking hiQ from accessing and scraping publicly available LinkedIn member profiles.

Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Data Security, Privacy, Screen Scraping, Social Media
The Proskauer Blog Network
View All Proskauer Blogs

New Media and Technology Law Blog

Proskauer Rose LLP logo
Follow on Twitter View LinkedIn Profile Subscribe to this blog via RSS
Privacy Policy

About Proskauer Rose LLP

We are 800+ lawyers serving clients from offices located in the leading financial and business centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The world’s leading organizations, companies and corporations choose us to be their representatives in their most critical situations. Moreover, they consider Proskauer a strategic partner to drive their business forward. We work with asset managers, private equity and venture capital firms, Fortune 500 companies, major sports leagues, entertainment industry legends and other industry-redefining companies.

Visit Proskauer.com

Topics

Archives

Copyright ©2025, Proskauer Rose LLP. All Rights Reserved.
Law blog design & platform by LexBlog LexBlog Logo

Proskauer and our platform provider LexBlog each use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze traffic. Each of us also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. If you are happy for us to store these cookies on your device please click ‘Accept Cookies.' For more information, please see here and here.

OK