Nearly 50 million Instagram influencers and celebrities reportedly had their private contact information scraped and exposed online (FB)

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• Instagram influencers and celebrities numbering in the millions had their private contact info left exposed on a database, TechCrunch reports.
• The database was compiled by an India-based social media marketing firm called Chtrbox. The database has since been taken offline.
• Instagram said in a statement to TechCrunch it’s looking into the matter, and that “scraping data of any kind is prohibited.”
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Almost 50 million influencers and personalities on Instagram had their private emails and phone numbers left exposed on an unprotected online database, TechCrunch reports.

The public database includes millions of records on prominent Instagram users, including their private contact information, number of followers, locations, and more, according to TechCrunch. The database, which has more than 49 million records, includes high-profile celebrities, bloggers, and more.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. In a statement to TechCrunch, Facebook says it’s investigating the matter to find out what data was obtained.

“Scraping data of any kind is prohibited on Instagram,” the spokesperson said. 

The database was created by a social media marketing firm called Chtrbox, which is based in India. Since TechCrunch reached out to Chtrbox, the database has been taken offline.

The database was used to determine the “worth” of each Instagram account and see how much influencer would cost for an ad or sponsored post, according to TechCrunch.

SEE ALSO: Facebook’s CTO is so shaken by the toxic and violent content that has overwhelmed the social network that he cried in a New York Times interview

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