A former employee at technology company Meta is facing investigation over allegations he downloaded private photos from Facebook.

The London-based engineer is accused of designing a program that allowed him to bypass the platform’s security checks and access people’s private photos.

A specialist detective from the Metropolitan Police’s cybercrime unit has launched an inquiry into the alleged breach of Facebook users’ privacy.

Meta confirmed that the breach came to light more than a year ago, after which the company referred the matter to police in the UK.

The technology company added that Facebook users have been informed that the suspect has been fired and that the platform’s security systems have been upgraded.