The controversial Discord harvesting website Spy.pet, which had been collecting and selling public data from Discord users since November 2023, was permanently shut down in April of 2024. This development comes after widespread attention to its operations and subsequent action by Discord’s Security Team.
The Rise and Fall of Spy.pet
Spy.pet gained notoriety for its extensive database, which reportedly contained messages from nearly 620 million users across more than 14,000 Discord servers. The site offered access to this vast amount of scraped information to potential clients, including law enforcement agencies, individuals interested in monitoring their contacts, and even those developing AI models.
How Spy.pet Operated
The website’s modus operandi involved infiltrating open Discord servers or those with easily accessible invite links. Once inside, Spy.pet’s operators could access and harvest the same data available to any other user on the server. While this meant that critically sensitive information was theoretically not compromised, the sheer scale of data collection raised significant privacy concerns.
Discord’s Response
Upon discovery of Spy.pet’s activities, Discord took swift action. A spokesperson for the platform told the Register:
“Scraping our services and self-botting are violations of our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. In addition to banning the affiliated accounts, we are considering appropriate legal action. We identified certain accounts that we believe are affiliated with the Spy.pet website, which we have subsequently banned.”
The Demise of Spy.pet
The crackdown on Spy.pet was rapid and effective:
- The number of Discord servers accessible to Spy.pet began to drop dramatically.
- By last Thursday, Spy.pet’s access to servers had reportedly fallen to zero.
- On Friday, the Spy.pet website itself ceased to function.
Uncertain Future
While the immediate threat posed by Spy.pet appears to have been neutralized, questions remain about the future of such data harvesting operations. A Telegram profile allegedly belonging to the Spy.pet administrator claimed that the website was suspended but hinted at plans to restore service through a backup domain.
Spy.pet Alternatives?
Many people are asking on Reddit or any other online forums, but currently, there are no Spy.pet alternatives. At least, publicly available ones.
Implications and Lessons
This incident highlights several important points:
- Privacy Vulnerabilities: Even public data, when aggregated at scale, can pose significant privacy risks.
- Platform Responsibility: Discord’s swift action demonstrates the importance of platforms actively protecting their users’ data.
- User Awareness: The incident reminds users to be cautious about the information they share in public online spaces.
