united-kingdom internet social-media
Can I scrape social media websites and advertise personal user information?
<p>I have recently built a scraper that could collect user information from a variety of social media platforms, these include: Instagram, Twitter and Nextdoor.</p>
<p>The information provided to me are the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Profile/Persons name</li>
<li>Location</li>
<li>Posts</li>
<li>Other people in association with the user</li>
</ol>
<p>What are my legal rights in advertising this information for marketing uses such as statistics on users?</p>
<p>Otherwise, what consequences may I face if I do so?</p>

<p>As Rick mentioned in comments this would most definitely be considered processing of personally identifiable information (PII) under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents" rel="nofollow noreferrer">UK GDPR</a>.</p>
<p>You mention &quot;advertising&quot; and &quot;marketing purposes&quot; so it's pretty clearly <strong>not</strong> for your own personal household/family use and that means you would have to comply with the GDPR.</p>
<p>That means you're going to need what's called a &quot;<a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lawful Basis</a>&quot; for processing this data. There's six different ones:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>(a) Consent:</strong> the individual has given clear consent for you to process their personal data for a specific purpose.</p>
<p><strong>(b) Contract:</strong> the processing is necessary for a contract you have with the individual, or because they have asked you to take specific steps before entering into a contract.</p>
<p><strong>(c) Legal obligation:</strong> the processing is necessary for you to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).</p>
<p><strong>(d) Vital interests:</strong> the processing is necessary to protect someone’s life.</p>
<p><strong>(e) Public task:</strong> the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.</p>
<p><strong>(f) Legitimate interests:</strong> the processing is necessary for your legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests. (This cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You haven't provided enough information for to hazard a guess at what your basis would be but the ICO has an <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gdpr-resources/lawful-basis-interactive-guidance-tool/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">on-line tool</a> which would give you a starting point.</p>
<p>It's a very good idea to make sure you have all your i's dotted and all your t's crossed <em>before</em> you start processing any PII - and that includes <em>documenting</em> the process.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Otherwise, what consequences may I face if I do so?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In some ways the consequences of non-compliance are &quot;what have you done?&quot; coupled with &quot;how much have you got?&quot;, the maximum penalty is £17.5m <strong>or</strong> 4% of your annual turnover (whichever is greater) and fines issued under the UK GDPR to date have ranged from mere <a href="https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2020/03/international-airline-fined-500-000-for-failing-to-secure-its-customers-personal-data/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pocket change</a> to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48905907" rel="nofollow noreferrer">almost enough to buy a tank of petrol</a>.</p>
<p>Widen it to the EU and small property owners association got a €500 slap on the wrist and Amazon managed to net themselves a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-hit-with-886-million-eu-data-privacy-fine-2021-07-30/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">€746m fine</a>.</p>

<p>As <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/78633/17500">the answer by motosubatsu</a> mentioned, a person or firm (entity) doing this that is located in the UK would be subject to the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents" rel="nofollow noreferrer">UK-GDPR</a>.
Also, an entity doing this that targets residents of the EU would be subject to the <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">EU-GDPR</a> The two laws are currently identical except for the substitution of &quot;UK&quot; for &quot;EU&quot; and other needed substitutions to make the modified law apply to the UK, not to the EU.</p>
<p>The entity collecting this information by scraping and then offering it for sale would be a Data Controller (DC) under either version of the GDPR.</p>
<p>This means that a lawful basis is required, as was explained by user motosubatsu. In addition:</p>
<ul>
<li>Under paragraphs 1 and 2 of <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-14-gdpr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 14</a> the DC must provide a notice to the Data Subject (DS), which means the natural person whose data has been obtained. This notice must include:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>the identity and the contact details of the controller and, where applicable, of the controller’s representative;
the contact details of the data protection officer, where applicable; the right to request access, modification, or erasure of the data; the right to complain to a supervising data Authority (DA) and the contact details of that authority</li>
<li>the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing;</li>
<li>the categories of personal data concerned;</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>and various other information about the DC and the dta collected, including who (or what kind(s) of entity) the DC intends to transfer the data to; how long the data will be retained; and any intent to transfer the data to entities located in other countries.</p>
<p>Such a notice must be sent &quot;as soon as reasonable&quot; but no later than within one month from the date that the data is collected, and no later than when any such data is transferred to another entity, such as by being sold.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-12-gdpr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">article 12</a> the notice required by Article 14 (and all other communications with the DS must be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>Under <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-15-gdpr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 15</a> the DC must provide the DS with the right to access the data, free of charge, and a means to make access requests, unless an exception applies.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Under <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-16-gdpr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 16</a> the DC must provide the DS with the right to request correction the data, free of charge, and a means to make such requests, unless an exception applies.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Under <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-17-gdpr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 17</a> the DC must provide the DS with the right to request deletion of the data, free of charge, and a means to make such requests, unless an exception applies.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Other rights under the GDPR will also apply.</p>
<p>Failing to grant any of these can subject the DC to a penalty, determined by the relevant DA.</p>
