What You Can (and Can’t) Legally Scrape in 2025

Introduction

In 2025, web scraping remains an essential tool for data-driven businesses, researchers, and developers. Whether you're monitoring prices, gathering reviews, or feeding machine learning models — scraping offers enormous value. But one crucial question persists: Is it legal?

The answer isn’t simple. Web scraping operates in a legal grey area, affected by local laws, international regulations like GDPR, and shifting interpretations of Terms of Service. In this article, we’ll explore what you can and can’t legally scrape in 2025, based on recent court rulings, privacy regulations, and industry best practices.

Web Scraping ≠ Illegal

Let’s clear up a common misconception: web scraping itself is not illegal. It’s a method of accessing publicly available information on the internet — similar to how your browser loads a web page. What makes scraping legally questionable is what you scrape, how you do it, and what you do with the data.

For example:

• Scraping publicly available job listings is generally legal
• Scraping private profiles behind a login page may violate laws or contracts
• Using scraped content for commercial resale can create copyright issues

Let’s break this down further.

1. Public vs. Private Data

The most critical distinction in web scraping is between public and private data.

• Public data is accessible without authentication (e.g., public product listings, blog articles, business directories).
• Private data is hidden behind a login or requires consent (e.g., user accounts, email addresses, internal dashboards).

You can generally scrape public data, but never private data without consent.

Important: just because data is visible doesn't mean it’s “free” to use. Many websites include restrictions in their Terms of Service (ToS), which we’ll cover below.

2. Terms of Service (ToS)

Many websites include ToS clauses that prohibit scraping. For instance:

• “You may not use automated tools to access the website.”
• “No data extraction, scraping, or crawling is allowed.”

Breaking ToS is not always illegal, but it can become problematic depending on the context:

• In Europe, violating ToS may count as unauthorized access under the Computer Misuse Act.
• In the U.S., courts have ruled that browsing public pages, even against ToS, is not criminal hacking (hiQ v. LinkedIn, 2022).

Key takeaway:

While violating ToS may result in being blocked or sued civilly, it’s not inherently a criminal act — unless scraping private content or causing harm.

3. GDPR and Personal Data

If you’re scraping data that relates to individuals, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) applies.

Personal data includes:

• Names, emails, phone numbers
• IP addresses, location info
• Social media activity tied to identities

Under GDPR, you must have a lawful basis for collecting and processing personal data — such as:

• Consent
• Legitimate interest (with minimal impact on data subjects)
• Contractual necessity

If your scraping involves EU citizens' personal data, you must also:

• Be transparent (publish a privacy policy)
• Allow deletion requests (right to be forgotten)
• Avoid storing sensitive data (race, religion, health, etc.)

Failing to comply with GDPR can result in fines up to €20M or 4% of global revenue.

4. The CCPA and US Privacy Landscape

In the U.S., data privacy is more fragmented. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives consumers control over their personal data, including:

• The right to know what’s collected
• The right to opt-out of data sales
• The right to delete personal info

Several other states have passed similar laws (Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, etc.).

If your scraping operation collects consumer data tied to California residents, you must offer:

• An opt-out mechanism
• Clear disclosures
• Secure data storage

Even if your scraper doesn’t “sell” the data, simply sharing or storing it can trigger compliance requirements.

5. Copyright Considerations

You can scrape facts, but not creative expression.

Here’s the distinction:

• ✅ Scraping prices, availability, dates, or business addresses (factual data)
• ❌ Scraping articles, images, or proprietary content and republishing them

Copyright protects original works like blog posts, news articles, product descriptions, and branding. Using scraped content for your own commercial use can violate copyright unless:

• It falls under fair use (transformative, non-commercial)
• You have explicit permission
• The content is licensed for reuse (e.g., under Creative Commons)

Always assume original content is protected unless stated otherwise.

6. API Access and Rate Limits

Some companies offer official APIs for data access (e.g., Twitter/X, Yelp, Google Maps). These APIs often:

• Limit how much data you can request
• Require API keys and usage tracking
• Enforce rate limits and quotas

Scraping around an API (e.g., scraping the front-end instead of paying for access) may violate ToS and lead to IP bans, legal notices, or DMCA takedowns.

If a reasonable API exists, it’s best to use it — even if it has limitations.

7. Legal Precedents and Court Rulings

Several important court cases have shaped scraping law:

• hiQ v. LinkedIn (USA, 2022): scraping public LinkedIn profiles is not a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
• Ryanair v. PR Aviation (EU): contract terms can restrict scraping even of public data
• eBay v. Bidder’s Edge: excessive scraping that burdens a server may constitute trespass

Summary:

• You can scrape public pages, but must avoid abuse
• Private scraping is almost always illegal
• Court rulings vary by country and context

Best Practices for Legal and Ethical Scraping

To stay compliant in 2025:

• ✅ Scrape only public, non-sensitive data
• ✅ Respect robots.txt and rate limits
• ✅ Avoid login-required areas
• ✅ Anonymize personal data
• ✅ Monitor legal updates by region
• ✅ Publish a clear privacy policy

If in doubt, consult legal experts — especially when working with international data.

Conclusion

Web scraping in 2025 remains a powerful and mostly legal practice, as long as it’s done responsibly. The key is knowing the boundaries — where automation ends and ethics (or law) begins.

By focusing on public, non-personal data and building responsible pipelines, companies can continue leveraging scraped data for research, innovation, and insight — without crossing the line.