A former Meta employee in the United Kingdom faces investigation after allegedly downloading approximately 30,000 private photos belonging to Facebook users. According to reports from *The Guardian*, the individual allegedly developed a custom software program to bypass Meta's internal security systems and access users' private image libraries. Meta discovered the unauthorized access more than a year ago and terminated the employee, notified affected users, referred the case to law enforcement, and enhanced security protocols.

The London Metropolitan Police's cybercrime unit is now actively investigating the matter. 'After discovering improper access by an employee over a year ago, we immediately terminated the individual, notified users, referred the matter to law enforcement and enhanced our security measures,' a Meta spokesperson confirmed to the publication. 'We are co-operating with the ongoing investigation.'.