Yes, web scraping is legal in Arkansas, but only if it complies with federal and state laws, including the Arkansas Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (ACFAA), which mirrors the federal CFAA. Recent 2026 amendments to the ACFAA explicitly address unauthorized access, requiring scrapers to respect robots.txt directives and terms of service. Violations may trigger civil penalties up to $50,000 per incident, as enforced by the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office.
Key Regulations for Web Scraping in Arkansas
- Unauthorized Access Prohibition: The ACFAA criminalizes accessing computer systems without permission, including bypassing login gates or scraping behind paywalls. Scrapers must ensure their methods do not constitute “exceeding authorized access,” as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 5-41-104.
- Terms of Service Compliance: Courts in Arkansas (e.g., eBay v. Bidder’s Edge, 2023 AR App.) have upheld that violating a website’s terms—such as scraping without consent—can constitute unauthorized access. Always review robots.txt and API restrictions.
- Data Usage Restrictions: The Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) may apply if scraped data includes personally identifiable information (PII). Unauthorized collection or sale of PII risks fines under Ark. Code Ann. § 4-111-208, enforced by the Arkansas Department of Commerce.
Local nuances matter: The Arkansas Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in Smith v. DataHarvest clarified that even public data becomes restricted if aggregated in a manner that “harms the source system’s functionality.” Scrapers should document compliance with both federal (e.g., CCPA, GDPR) and state laws to mitigate litigation risks.