Former Meta Engineer Under Investigation for Downloading 30,000 Private Facebook Photos
A former engineer previously employed by Meta is currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police following allegations of illegally downloading around 30,000 private photographs belonging to Facebook users.
The individual, a London resident, is suspected of developing a sophisticated program designed to circumvent security protocols and access personal images on the social media platform.
Meta confirmed that the security breach was identified over a year ago. Upon discovery, the company states it promptly terminated the employment of the suspected individual and subsequently referred the matter to law enforcement agencies.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that a man in his 30s was arrested in November 2025 on suspicion of unauthorised access to computer material. He has since been released on bail and is due to report back to the police in May.
Security Concerns and Previous Incidents
This incident is being handled by the Metropolitan Police's Cybercrime Unit, following a referral from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Meta has also stated that affected Facebook users have been notified, and the company has implemented enhanced security measures.
This latest security lapse adds to a series of data protection issues faced by the Facebook parent company. In November 2022, Meta was fined €265 million (£228 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) for a breach that exposed the personal details of hundreds of millions of Facebook users. Furthermore, in September 2024, the DPC fined Meta €91 million (£75 million) for inadvertently storing unencrypted user passwords on its internal systems.
