[dsfyu404ed]

It's not hacking. It's social engineering. It's no different than some smooth talking "Nigerian" getting your grandmother to cut a check. No systems were hacked here, no technical errors or design loopholes were exploited. People were persuaded into doing things that gave Facebook the access it needed to obtain the contact info.

[jellicle]

You are making a distinction that the criminal justice system does not make.

[dsfyu404ed]

There's no law that makes "hacking" a criminal offense. This particular case is just manipulation/social engineering so you probably shouldn't be calling it "hacking" on a message board that's mostly populated by software professionals to whom "hacking" has a meaning that does not include what is basically a con-man trick (though I see you have already edited the parent comment to reflect this).

[jellicle]

We were literally just discussing the law that makes hacking a criminal offense. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act makes it a federal offense; most if not all states also make it a state crime; most if not all other countries also make it a crime in their jurisdictions.

And yes, tricking someone into giving up their password is hacking (as any hacker will tell you), and it is a crime to use that password to swipe someone's contact database.

I'm not sure I can continue this thread with you because it seems you are very confused. I have also not edited any comments here.