Former Meta engineer investigated for allegedly downloading 30,000 private Facebook photos using a program built to bypass security

A former Meta employee based in London is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Cybercrime Unit after allegedly designing a program to access and download around 30,000 private Facebook user images while evading the platform's security checks. Meta said it discovered the breach over a year ago, immediately fired the employee, and referred the matter to the FBI, which then passed it to the Met. The man, who is in his 30s, was arrested in November 2025 on suspicion of unauthorized access to computer material and has since been released on bail.