Discord is presently conducting an investigation into a website that is allegedly collecting data from servers and selling it to internet users.
According to the most recent report by 404Media, a website has been discovered that is allegedly gathering all content from Discord servers, such as messages and voice activity, and then offering access to this data for sale.
According to 404, the creator of the website, it currently scrapes data from over 10,000 Discord servers and is utilizing this information for either AI model training or to aid law enforcement, as stated at the time of writing.
The creator of spy.pet informed 404 that to access the information on the website, a minimum of $5 is required for purchase. When inquired about the number of paying accounts, the creator stated that they currently have approximately 100 active accounts.
“During their conversation with 404Media, the creator expressed their fondness for scraping, archiving, and challenging themselves. They also mentioned that Discord is a particularly challenging platform for scraping, as the company is constantly implementing new measures to prevent it.”
Although I did not pay to access these messages, a brief glance at the website quickly revealed details about the emojis, stickers, and user count of different servers.
Discord informed 404Media that they were currently conducting an investigation into the website and its actions, but were unable to disclose further details due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
“According to Discord, safeguarding the privacy and data of our users is a top priority for us. We are actively examining this issue and will take necessary actions if any breaches of our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines are found. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose any further information at this time.”
During the process of writing this article, the website of spy.pet encountered loading problems, displaying a 520 Error instead. It is uncertain whether this issue is caused by a high volume of users attempting to access the site or if Discord has taken further action.
I have contacted Discord for a statement and will provide an update once I receive a response from them.
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