A former Meta employee is under criminal investigation in London on suspicion of downloading around 30,000 private Facebook images. The man, who was employed by the social media giant at the time, is believed to have created a program designed to access the pictures while bypassing internal security checks.
The Metropolitan Police’s cybercrime unit is investigating the alleged invasion of Facebook users’ privacy. According to court papers seen by the Press Association, police allege the suspect “accessed and downloaded approximately 30,000 private images belonging to Facebook users whilst working for Meta” and “created a script designed to circumvent Meta’s internal detection systems”.
Meta told the Press Association it discovered the suspected breach over a year ago, referred the matter to UK police, sacked the employee, and notified affected users. The company has since upgraded its security systems and is cooperating with the investigation. The suspect, who lives in London, is on police bail and must report to officers in May, as well as inform police of any foreign travel plans.
Jon Baines, a senior data protection specialist at Mishcon de Reya, noted that while the employee could face data protection and computer misuse charges, Meta may avoid liability if it had appropriate technical and organisational measures in place. However, if the Information Commissioner’s Office or a court finds Meta’s measures insufficient, the company could face fines or damages claims. An ICO spokesperson confirmed awareness of the incident, stating that social media users should trust their personal information is handled responsibly.
