By Sabiu Abdullahi
Italy’s Data Protection Authority has fined Meta €805m over allegations that the technology company accessed the photos and videos of millions of Facebook users without obtaining their specific consent.
The regulator said the company failed to adequately inform about 20 million Android smartphone users that a Facebook feature could access their phone galleries to generate suggestions for posts.
It has ordered Meta to disable the feature by default and obtain users’ separate consent within 60 days.
The fine, equivalent to about £670m or $887m, is among the largest penalties imposed on a technology company by an Italian authority.
The investigation centred on a Facebook feature that recommends photos and videos stored on users’ devices as potential content for posts.
According to the regulator, Facebook obtained access to users’ photo galleries through a general permission covering the entire application. However, the notification preceding the request did not clearly explain that the permission would also allow the platform to generate content suggestions from their personal galleries.
The authority said it considered the large number of people affected, the continued operation of the feature for users who had not updated their applications, and the fact that some users had already consented to the system. It also cited what it described as Meta’s lack of cooperation.
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that the company strongly disagreed with the regulator’s findings and intended to appeal the decision.
“We strongly disagree with the [regulator’s] assessment of the facts, its application of the law, and the disproportionate level of the fine.
“This is a straightforward feature which helps people post photos and videos to Facebook. People must give permission on their device before it can operate, and they can change this permission at any time via their settings.”
Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, was hit with another major financial penalty last month after a court in New Mexico, United States, ordered it to pay $25bn over its handling of Facebook users’ data.
The latest Italian penalty adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of the company’s data protection and privacy practices.
