[nikolayasdf123]

> scraping LinkedIn profiles

is this legal? last time I checked linkedin.com/robots.txt do not allow scraping, unless explicit approval from linkedin

[breadwinner]

If it is publicly available information it is legal to scrape it, regardless of what robots.txt says.

See: https://www.webspidermount.com/is-web-scraping-legal-yes/

[otterley]

As an attorney (and this is not legal advice), I don't think it's quite that simple. The court held that the CFAA does not proscribe scraping of pages to which the user already has access and in a way that doesn't harm the service, and thus it's not a crime. But there are other mechanisms that might impact a scraper, such as civil liability, that have not been addressed uniformly by the courts yet. And if you scrape in such a way that does harm the operator (e.g. by denying service), it might still be unlawful, even criminal.

There's a relevant footnote in the cited HiQ Labs v. LinkedIn case:

"LinkedIn’s cease-and-desist letter also asserted a state common law claim of trespass to chattels. Although we do not decide the question, it may be that web scraping exceeding the scope of the website owner’s consent gives rise to a common law tort claim for trespass to chattels, at least when it causes demonstrable harm."

They also said: "Internet companies and the public do have a substantial interest in thwarting denial-of-service attacks and blocking abusive users, identity thieves, and other ill-intentioned actors."

It's a good idea to take legal conclusions from media sites with a grain of salt. Same goes for any legal discussion on social media, including HN. If you want a thorough analysis of legal risk--either for your business or for personal matters--hire a good lawyer.

[nikolayasdf123]

what a nonsense. this is equivalent of "sovereign citizens" online. go and try it, and get yourself into jail.

[mandeepj]

LinkedIn has api. So why to scrap?

[nikolayasdf123]

because they are pulling what they are not supposed to. they are doing it illegally. that's why.

[hgaddipa001]

We get our data from third party data vendors who we assume have gotten explicit approval from linkedin!

[scblock]

You assume! Such due diligence!