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I've done that stupid thing again where I try to make a nuanced point on the internet (I know, I know...). People are rightfully upset with Facebook trying to brush off its big data loss as just "data scraping" which is different from a breach... but... https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
... there is a difference between a data breach and just data scraping, and if we demonize scraping, that will create huge problems, and could give big companies like FB *much* more control over data. But that shouldn't let FB off the hook... https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
The real issue is what kind of data was exposed for scraping, and whether or not there was some expectation of privacy in that data. And *that* is where FB failed. The issue should be what kind of data and whether it's public or not. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
And, of course, the key point in the post, is that while FB is trying to play up the difference between data scraping and a data breach now... when it sued Power a decade ago, it argued the exact opposite: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
In that case, Facebook argued (successfully, unfortunately), that scraping of data that was *authorized* by the end user, was no different than hacking Facebook. And it won. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
So for the company to *now* argue that scraping is wholly different from a breach seems *rich*. Or, at least, just cynical. But, that doesn't mean we should freak out about all data scraping. There's nuance and that nuance is important. /end https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210421/10152346651/facebooks-distinction-between-data-breaches-scraping-would-make-lot-more-sense-if-it-hadnt-argued-differently-court.shtml
