Social Data

Social Data, a social media marketing and advertising company known for selling scraped data and based in Hong Kong, recently exposed roughly 235 million users via an unsecured database. Breached data includes names, profile names and photos, contact information, and followers’ statistics, and affects 42 million TikTok users, 192 million Instagram users, and 3.9 million YouTube users. Researchers assess that the data originated from Deep Social, a company that permanently discontinued services after Facebook and Instagram revoked both their license and authorization to use these platforms. Social Data has denied any connection with Deep Social and maintains the data was only taken from publicly accessible profiles; however, the practice of scraping any user information is against the affected social media platforms’ terms of service. Initial disclosure was sent to Deep Social and was subsequently sent to Social Data, resulting in the disabling of the database within three hours. Users are reminded to review privacy settings often and consider establishing more prudent security measures as this information can be used by cyber-criminals to conduct future attacks. The NJCCIC provides instructional guides to assist users in securing social media accounts.