Facebook is suing a Ukrainian programmer for selling public data, including phone numbers, of millions of Facebook users. The social media company is claiming damages.
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Alexander Solochenko allegedly used automated software to collect data from more than 178 million Facebook accounts. This phenomenon is also known as ‘scraping’. He then put the data for sale on an illegal website. The data would mainly come from Americans.
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Facebook tracked down the programmer because he also used his username and contact information for the illegal marketplace for accounts on job boards. The man is also said to have stolen and sold data from other companies, such as a large Ukrainian bank and a parcel supplier.
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The company has now filed a complaint against the Ukrainian to get him to stop selling public data for good. Facebook is also demanding compensation. The exact amount involved is unknown.
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