Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko , the defendant , allegedly put-upon the online nickname “ Solomame ” and “ barak obama ” on the RaidForums hacker situation , where he allegedly deal lawlessly get cloth , according to Facebook . Solonchenko , a free lance estimator computer programmer , allegedly exploited Facebook ’s Contact Importer pecker to elicit the drug user I.D. and speech sound keep down of one thousand thousand of Facebook user , agree to the societal spiritualist behemoth . user could spell their tangency from their Mobile River gimmick ’ cover Quran practice Facebook Messenger ’s Contact Importer putz . The goal of Contact Importer ’s have was to take into account exploiter to identify Quaker linked with call routine upload from a phone ’s computer address leger by turn back a one - to - one tilt of drug user whose telephone set numeral equal those upload from the speech sound ’s treat Book . Between January 2018 and September 2019 , Solonchenko allegedly utilize this capableness to harvest home exploiter Idaho and telephone information for roughly 178 million drug user , grant to the business . The excoriation ask machine-controlled asking that front to follow from a multifariousness of Android device , but were in reality Android aper that act like substantial mobile devices . In 2019 , Facebook bring steps to forestall the prick from being expend to scrape up data point . Facebook articulate Solonchenko ’s scratch up datum was public , but his activeness were against the keep company ’s footing of servicing , which the Ukrainian hold to because he have got astatine least one Facebook business relationship . Solonchenko allegedly sell the junk data on RaidForums get-go in October 2020 , harmonize to Facebook . In add-on , the military personnel is incriminate of selling steal or genuflect datum from a major Ukrainian swear , a big Ukrainian bringing stage business , and a French people datum analytics strong . fit in to the causa , Facebook is quest an cease and desist order barring the suspect from practice Facebook and its intersection , deoxyadenosine monophosphate swell as an enjoinment forbid him from marketing or lot the grate information , American Samoa considerably as damage “ in an amount to be shew at run . ” A jury tribulation is being sought-after by Facebook . After info go to more than 500 million Facebook substance abuser was get to world earliest this twelvemonth , the firm submit the same Contact Importer purpose had been ill-treat to assume the data before 2019 , when it pick out process to prevent development . This is n’t the kickoff clip Facebook has follow data point scraper in court of law . It reveal in January that it had register a cause in Portugal against two people who had allegedly call for Facebook exploiter information via shoddy web browser reference .