Former Meta Employee Investigated Over Alleged Theft of 30,000 Private Facebook Photos

The Metropolitan Police are investigating a former Meta employee in London on suspicion of unauthorised access to computer material. The engineer is alleged to have developed a program to circumvent security protocols and access around 30,000 private photographs belonging to Facebook users.

Meta confirmed the discovery of the breach over a year ago, stating the individual was immediately dismissed and the matter reported to law enforcement agencies. A man in his 30s was arrested in November 2025 and has since been released on bail, with a requirement to report to police again in May.

The investigation is being conducted by the Metropolitan Police's Cybercrime Unit, following a referral from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. Meta has stated that affected Facebook users have been notified and security systems have been enhanced.

Previous Security Concerns

This incident follows a series of security issues for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. In November 2022, Meta was fined €265 million (£228 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) due to a breach that exposed the personal details of hundreds of millions of Facebook users online. Subsequently, in September 2024, the DPC issued a €91 million (£75 million) fine after Meta inadvertently stored unencrypted passwords of social media users on its internal systems.

Beyond data security, Meta is also contending with legal challenges concerning the addictive nature of its applications. In March, a California jury found that both Meta and Google had intentionally designed addictive social media platforms, awarding $6 million (£4.5 million) in damages to a young woman who claimed harm to her mental health. Both companies have stated their intention to appeal the verdict.