Italian regulators have fined Meta, the parent company of Facebook, €805 million (about $880 million) for accessing users’ photographs, videos and related information without obtaining specific consent.
Italy’s data protection authority announced the penalty on Saturday, following an investigation into the Facebook application for Android devices.
The regulator said Meta accessed photographs, videos and associated metadata stored on Italian users’ smartphones without properly informing them or obtaining their specific permission.
Meta has rejected the decision and announced plans to appeal the fine.
A company spokesperson said: “we strongly disagree” with the assessment by the regulators “and the disproportionate level of the fine”.
Facebook Gallery Feature Under Investigation
The penalty centres on Facebook’s gallery suggestions feature, introduced in 2023, which recommends photographs and videos stored in users’ phone galleries as potential content to share on the platform.
According to Italy’s data protection authority, Facebook sought access to users’ photo galleries through a single authorisation covering the entire application.
The regulator argued that the accompanying notification was too general and failed to clearly inform users that granting permission would also allow Facebook to access their galleries and suggest photographs for posting.
It said the arrangement did not provide users with sufficient information to make an informed decision about their privacy.
20 Million Android Users Affected
Italy’s data protection authority estimated that approximately 20 million Android users in the country could have been affected by the practice.
It also considered the duration of the infringement, which it said remained ongoing for users who had not updated their applications and those who had previously granted permission under the existing system.
The regulator further cited Meta’s lack of cooperation during the investigation as one of the factors influencing the size of the penalty.
Under the decision, Meta must introduce a separate and specific consent request for the gallery suggestions feature, clearly explain its purpose and provide instructions on how users can disable it.
The company must also ensure the feature is switched off by default.
The regulator gave Meta 60 days to implement the required changes.
Meta Faces Another Major Privacy Setback
The latest penalty adds to Meta’s growing regulatory challenges over data privacy and the handling of users’ personal information.
In late October, authorities in New Mexico ordered the company to pay $25 billion over allegations that it misled residents for more than a decade about its use of their personal data.
Meta criticised that decision, describing the penalty as a “tax” on freedom of expression.
Italy’s €805 million fine is among the largest penalties imposed by the country’s authorities on a technology company.
In 2021, Amazon received a fine of more than €1.1 billion for breaching competition laws. The amount was subsequently reduced to €752 million on appeal.
The Italian data protection authority said the latest penalty represented approximately 0.4 per cent of Meta’s annual global turnover.
