Italy Fines Meta $887 Million Over User Photo Privacy
· Technology · Al Jazeera, BBC News
Italian data privacy authority Garante has fined Meta 805 million euros, equivalent to approximately $887 million, for accessing user photos without proper consent. The penalty stems from the Facebook app on Android devices accessing photos, videos, and associated metadata stored on Italian users' smartphones without informing them. The issue specifically involves the 'Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook' feature, which was enabled by default and utilized overly generic consent collection. Regulators estimate that roughly 20 million Italian Android users were affected by the practice. Garante cited Meta's lack of cooperation and a previous 2019 violation as contributing factors to the record fine, which amounts to about 0.47 percent of Meta's global turnover.
Why it matters
The record penalty penalises Big Tech over default privacy settings and strengthens data protection enforcement across Europe.
Read the original report — Al Jazeera
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