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LinkedIn Sues 100 Individuals For Scraping User Data From the Site (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the don't-scrap dept.

Mark Wilson, writing for BetaNews: Professional social network LinkedIn is suing 100 anonymous individuals for data scraping. It is hoped that a court order will be able to reveal the identities of those responsible for using bots to harvest user data from the site. The Microsoft-owned service takes pride in the relationship it has with its users and the security it offers their data. Its lawsuit seeks to use the data scrapers' IP addresses and then discover their true identity in order to take action against them. LinkedIn says that a botnet has been used to gain access to user data which is then passed on to third parties. The site has a number of measures in place to prevent this type of data harvesting, but it seems that scrapers have found a way to circumvent these security restrictions. A series of automated tools -- FUSE, Quicksand, Sentinel, and Org Block -- are used to monitor suspicious activity and blocking scraping.

11 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. LinkedIn Response in Summary by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Funny

    "hey, data scraping is our gig"

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    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  2. Security my Ass by ketomax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Microsoft-owned service takes pride in the relationship it has with its users and the security it offers their data.

    Thanks to LinkedIn hackers are attempting to login to my accounts on sites like Steam, Facebook, eBay, Twitter, etc. Now, I know better and use different passwords for different sites. But, at least these sites have security in place to warn me of suspicious logins while denying the logins.

  3. So... by The-Ixian · · Score: 5, Informative

    You publish a public document then get mad when people use it for their own purposes.... brilliant.

    How about you just make user privacy a default so that anonymous users cannot see any information?

    You would then see which throw away accounts are being used to log in to see the data...

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    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    1. Re:So... by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll do you one better: Don't use LinkedIn.

    2. Re:So... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Linked In is a public billboard. Treat it like that and this doesn't matter.

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      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:So... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll do you one better: Don't use LinkedIn.

      That was my solution. So while everyone else is running around in hair-on-fire mode, my defensive plan is to have a sandwich and then take a nap.

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      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  4. Is data scraping illegal? by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know scanning the data from a yellow pages breaks copyright law, but using an army of typists to copy the same data from the same source is perfectly fine.
    How does scraping data from a website measure up, assuming all scraped data is available to visitors through normal means (i.e. not using security holes).
    At what point does using data from a website become "scraping" and at what point does it violate copyrights?

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  5. Re:Crime? by omnichad · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes. They're trying to turn a civil suit about a breach in contract into a criminal charge of anti-circumvention (DMCA) of their IP blacklist procedures and CFAA and criminal trespass for the access to the nearly public profiles that anyone with a free account can view.

  6. Botnet? by wcrowe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So they're saying a botnet was used to gain access to the data, then passed on to third parties. Unless I'm mistaken, the IP addresses will be pointing to machines on the botnet, and the owners of those machines have no idea that is happening. It sounds like a lot of innocent people might get swept up in this.

    Also ironic that LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, who is no doubt responsible for the operating systems running on all those bots on the aforementioned botnet.

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    Proverbs 21:19
  7. Passing user data on to 3rd parties. by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As a matter of interest, what is the point of LinkedIn if not to pass my user profile to as many people as possible?

    They should be hiring these bots, not taking action against them. The whole purpose of LinkedIn is a public advertisement for work. They like to pretend they are a "social network for business" but really all they are is a giant platform for classifieds, and within that purpose the bots are doing a great job.

  8. Scammers harvest LinkedIn for victims by AnalogDiehard · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was a (brief) victim of a dating scam. After I got wise and cut them off, I wondered where how they profiled me. My "date" claimed she found me on a FB group but scammers hide their tricks. Googling a quick ego surf revealed that the only place any profile of mine shows up is LinkedIn, which I thought was private. Seeing that I got zero benefit from LinkedIn and I had no other profile stored anywhere, I promptly deleted my LinkedIn account.

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    Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10