Yahoo Finance Bright Data Accused of Scraping Minors’ Information From Instagram
(Bloomberg) -- A proposed class-action suit in Israel is accusing data collection company Bright Data of selling personal information about minors that it pulled from Facebook and Instagram, allegedly in violation of local privacy laws.
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Plaintiff Roni Rachmian and his 17-year-old daughter filed a claim in an Israeli court on Monday and asked that the class be extended to all users of Meta Platforms Inc.’s social media services in the country, according to the lawsuit seen by Bloomberg ahead of its filing.
They argued that their privacy was violated by Bright Data, an Israel-based company that offers social media scraping tools as a paid service. Specific demands for compensation were not set, but the lawsuit asked that a settlement be larger than ILS 2.5 million ($670,000).
In response to the claim, Bright Data said it “abides by all legal guidelines and addresses any inquiries or allegations.”
“Regrettably, no attempt was made to contact Bright Data in this instance. The company remains committed to scrutinizing any claims against it and responding appropriately,” it said in a statement.
Meta is separately suing Bright Data for harvesting information from Instagram and Facebook. The data collection company has responded with a counter-suit to allow it to continue the practice, maintaining that it only collects public information that isn’t login-protected. Court filings from earlier this year have revealed that Meta in the past hired Bright Data to scrape other sites, even while it condemned the practice.
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