Web Scraping Legality

Posted by Strategos747 on Tuesday December 29, 2020 @07:43PM
from the self-post dept.

I am a college student creating a non commercial app (for my resume). This app uses unofficial APIs to scrape data from several competing services, and then displays comparison between these services on a mobile application. Should I be concerned about violating the terms of use of these companies, and possibly being sued? Should I create an LLC?

( 2 comments | 4 points | on HN )

Re:Web Scraping Legality by chordalkeyboard on Tuesday December 29, 2020 @08:54PM (#25577452)

Yeah you should probably do both of those things but you're also young and (assuming you're like the typical college student) asset-free so there's not much money to get by suing you and you may be able to afford to take risks like this. Set up a legal liability shield (LLC) and make sure your actions are defensible according to your interpretation of the law.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Web Scraping Legality by IThinkImOKAY on Tuesday December 29, 2020 @09:09PM (#25577553)

I would suggest adding an LLC. Also, I'd recommend adding a time-delay of some sort to whatever you're using. It'll make sure that you aren't using up much of their resources and don't get blocked :)

[ Parent | on HN ]