Global warning issued on social media data scraping

Data protection authorities from around the world issued a joint statement addressing the privacy risks posed by data scraping social media and other public websites. The DPAs, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, declared personal information on the internet that is "publicly available," "publicly accessible" or "of a public nature" are still subject to global data protection and privacy laws. The joint statement also identified privacy risks including targeted cyberattacks, identity fraud and profiling.