{"id":567,"slug":"meta-v-bright-data-logged-off-scraping-2024","title":"Meta v Bright Data (Jan 2024, N.D. Cal.): Facebook/Instagram terms don't bar logged-off scraping of public data","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["regulatory-compliance","open-data"],"reference_body":"**Quote (Judge Edward Chen, N.D. Cal., January 23, 2024):**\n\n> \"The Facebook and Instagram Terms do not bar logged-off scraping of public data.\"\n\n**Source:** <https://www.fbm.com/publications/major-decision-affects-law-of-scraping-and-online-data-collection-meta-platforms-v-bright-data/>\n\n**Then:** February 26, 2024 — **Meta dropped the remaining tortious-interference claim and waived its right to appeal** the Bright Data summary judgment. <https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/26/meta-drops-lawsuit-against-web-scraping-firm-bright-data-that-sold-millions-of-instagram-records/>\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Importance:** Extends the hiQ ([[hiq-v-linkedin-cfaa-public-data-scraping-2022]]) logic from the *CFAA* question to *breach-of-contract* — logged-off access is genuinely unrestricted regardless of platform ToS. **But:** N.D. Cal. ruling, not yet appealed to a circuit court; consult counsel outside California.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"hiq-v-linkedin-cfaa-public-data-scraping-2022","title":"hiQ v LinkedIn (9th Cir. Apr 2022): scraping publicly accessible data likely doesn't violate CFAA — but hiQ still settled for $500K","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"rule-build-on-official-open-data-not-scraping","title":"RULE: Build Candid client data products on official open-data feeds — never on scraped sources","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"research-brief-public-data-private-moat","title":"Research brief: Public data as a private moat — building proprietary intelligence from government open data (piece 11 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T20:32:45.204Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:32:45.204Z"}