Stories from the Web Crawling trenches in ethics

The Complex Relationship Between Hackers and Web Scraping

Author: Mohan Ganesan

Date: Feb 20, 2024

Web scraping is a neutral technology that can be used for ethical or unethical purposes. It raises concerns around consent and intended use, and hackers have a complex relationship with it.

Can I crawl any website?

Author: Mohan Ganesan

Date: Feb 20, 2024

When creating a web crawler, it is important to respect websites' permissions and crawl ethically. The Robots Exclusion Protocol and proper identification of the crawler are key factors. Legal risks can be avoided by obtaining explicit permission from website owners.

Does Google allow web scraping?

Author: Mohan Ganesan

Date: Feb 20, 2024

Web scraping allows automatic data extraction from websites. Google permits scraping of public information, but it should be done responsibly and ethically.

What are the risks of web scraping?

Author: Mohan Ganesan

Date: Feb 22, 2024

Web scraping can collect large amounts of data from websites, but it comes with risks. Respect terms of service, avoid overloading servers, prevent data corruption, and mask scraping activities.

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