Facebook suing Israeli company BrandTotal for harvesting users’ data

Facebook has filed a lawsuit in California against Israeli-based company BrandTotal Ltd. and Unimania Inc., an Israeli-founded company incorporated in Delaware, for using a technique called scraping to engage in an international data harvesting operation. According to Facebook, these companies scraped data from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Amazon, in order to sell “marketing intelligence” and other services. The social media giant claimed in its announcement last Thursday that their actions violated Facebook's terms of service and it is therefore pursuing legal action.

Scraping is a form of data collection that relies on unauthorized automation. In order to evade Facebook's protections against scraping, these companies exploited users’ access through a set of browser extensions called “UpVoice” and “Ads Feed” designed to access and collect data, the social media giant explained. The browser extensions used automated programs to scrape names, user ID, gender, date of birth and other information related to accounts.

Facebook has found itself in hot water before in regard to scraping, most notably in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cambridge Analytica harvested the personal data of millions of users without consent, predominantly to be used for political advertising. Ever since, Facebook has made an effort to show that it is doing its utmost to avoid a recurrence of the incident, including taking legal action against developers of such tools.

A person associated with the Israeli company told Calcalist on condition of anonymity that the social media network's handling of the matter was odd. "The usual course of action in cases of claims of usage rights violations is to approach the company and demand that it ceases the alleged activity and not immediately seek legal recourse. The same person added that most adtech companies, both in Israel and abroad, engage in automated data collection from publicly available sources since the volume of the processes demands it. The singling out of BrandTotal in the lawsuit raises questions, the person added.

Another person associated with the company suggested that the upcoming U.S. elections may be playing a part in Facebook’s strategy. “The timing is no coincidence. We must recall that the Cambridge Analytica scandal revolved around the previous presidential elections, tarnishing Facebook’s image. It is therefore important for them to project caution ahead of these elections. If it was about usage right violations BrandTotal would have received a demand to cease its activities instead of learning about the case from the media.”

 

In response to Facebook's post, BrandTotal issued the following statement: "BrandTotal is a leading brand analytics company that provides insights and analytics to advertisers so they can optimize marketing investments. BrandTotal strictly adheres to all applicable rules and regulations based on GDPR and other privacy laws at the core. BrandTotal has always maintained the highest ethical standards and complied with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations. BrandTotal has not been contacted by Facebook nor made aware of any complains or issues relating to its operations. We are reviewing the allegations by Facebook with legal counsel and will resolve any claims against the company. BrandTotal will continue serving its clients to attain a complete, true picture of the arena in which they operate."

BrandTotal applies advanced cyber security techniques and artificial intelligence to uncover and analyze competitors’ “dark” marketing efforts, illuminating their strategies and tactics. "Many of the most recognizable consumer brands use our competitive marketing intelligence platform to discover marketing threats and opportunities in real time," the company's website reads.

UpVoice is BrandTotal’s user panel, used to collect ads that panelists see on their social platforms. Users opt-in to become panel members and are rewarded with gift cards