The Lemmy app we are using on our phones needs to download content from Lemmy so it can be displayed to us. Lemmy might just have one big file full of links, but that’s annoying to have to write code to handle. Or it might have a folder full of files where each file is a post, but that’s also a bit annoying to write code to manage.
It (probably) uses a local SQLite database to store all of the cached posts.
Conceptually, a database is just a place to store things, just like a big text file. The database just handles a lot of the grunt work for you and makes it easier to search, organize, and filter the data.
So anywhere there is data, there could be a database.
No legal issues at all. Worst case they will blackball you from interviewing at that company for a few years, and tell other companies in that industry, or others that work with those recruoters at least, that you’re a flake and try to get you blackballed there too. And that’s going to be incredibly rare and only really happen if you’re an asshole about it or no-call-no-show the interview and waste their time.
Politely decline to continue with them, they’ll probably appreciate that you’re being honest and not wasting their time interviewing you for you to just say no later.
“I’ve decided to pursue other endeavors, thank you for your time”.