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This sounds, at best, ethically dubious and at worst illegal. Aaron Swartz was arrested and charged under hacking laws for doing exactly what you're describing.

This sounds, at best, ethically dubious and at worst illegal. Aaron Swartz was arrested and charged under hacking laws for doing exactly what you're describing. Given that your run this division there is a good chance you are personally liable.

abcpassword 7y ago
He’s definitely personally liable. I was tasked with a similar thing at work and refused. Prison time isn’t worth the paycheck.
Pinbenterjamin 7y ago
We have an enormous legal team that communicates constantly with end points to ensure they are aware of our scraping. And as I said in another comment, we store no results other than what is already available to anyone else using the web. We've had this division for many many years, and before my time we paid another company to do this. There's no legal issues.
- underwater 7y ago
  Your legal teamn is in contact with them, but their security is actively trying to block you? That doesn't make sense. Computer security laws are very broad. It doesn't matter if it's just a website that the public can access. If you're accessing it in a matter that they don't want AND you're aware of that, then I struggle to see how your lawyers can justify it. > Computer hacking is broadly defined as intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access. https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/computer-hacking/ https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/computer-hacking/ Hiding your user agent because you know they don't want automated retrieval of information is "without authorisation".
Havoc 7y ago
>Aaron Swartz was arrested and charged under hacking laws for doing exactly what you're describing. Don't think connecting a computer to a private network to suck up subscriber data is comparable to scraping publicly accessible internet content.
- underwater 7y ago
  My understanding of the case is that he was charged with evading JSTOR security, not for accessing the MIT network.
- 3xblah 7y ago
  These fear mongering comments always ignore the notice provision in the CFAA. Web scraping publicly accessible information is not "illegal" under the CFAA. That law, at most, only makes someone who continues scraping after being asked to stop potentially culpable. First, the accuser needs to, at least, send a cease and desist letter to the accused asking them to stop accessing the protected computer. Second, the accused needs to ignore that request and keep accessing the protected computer. Is it possible to build a solid CFAA case when those two things do not happen? I cannot find any examples. https://iapp.org/news/a/can-a-cease-and-desist-notice-create-cfaa-liability-scrapers-beware/ https://iapp.org/news/a/can-a-cease-and-desist-notice-create...
morpheuskafka 7y ago
Although his charges were ridiculous, they involved physically connecting to a secure network without permission, not just scraping the public part of pages from his own networks.

abcpassword 7y ago

He’s definitely personally liable. I was tasked with a similar thing at work and refused. Prison time isn’t worth the paycheck.

Pinbenterjamin 7y ago

We have an enormous legal team that communicates constantly with end points to ensure they are aware of our scraping. And as I said in another comment, we store no results other than what is already available to anyone else using the web. We've had this division for many many years, and before my time we paid another company to do this. There's no legal issues.

underwater 7y ago
Your legal teamn is in contact with them, but their security is actively trying to block you? That doesn't make sense. Computer security laws are very broad. It doesn't matter if it's just a website that the public can access. If you're accessing it in a matter that they don't want AND you're aware of that, then I struggle to see how your lawyers can justify it. > Computer hacking is broadly defined as intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access. https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/computer-hacking/ https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/computer-hacking/ Hiding your user agent because you know they don't want automated retrieval of information is "without authorisation".

Havoc 7y ago

>Aaron Swartz was arrested and charged under hacking laws for doing exactly what you're describing. Don't think connecting a computer to a private network to suck up subscriber data is comparable to scraping publicly accessible internet content.

underwater 7y ago
My understanding of the case is that he was charged with evading JSTOR security, not for accessing the MIT network.
3xblah 7y ago
These fear mongering comments always ignore the notice provision in the CFAA. Web scraping publicly accessible information is not "illegal" under the CFAA. That law, at most, only makes someone who continues scraping after being asked to stop potentially culpable. First, the accuser needs to, at least, send a cease and desist letter to the accused asking them to stop accessing the protected computer. Second, the accused needs to ignore that request and keep accessing the protected computer. Is it possible to build a solid CFAA case when those two things do not happen? I cannot find any examples. https://iapp.org/news/a/can-a-cease-and-desist-notice-create-cfaa-liability-scrapers-beware/ https://iapp.org/news/a/can-a-cease-and-desist-notice-create...

morpheuskafka 7y ago

Although his charges were ridiculous, they involved physically connecting to a secure network without permission, not just scraping the public part of pages from his own networks.