Italy fines Meta US$887 million over Android users' data access
A Meta spokesperson said the company would appeal, strongly disagreeing with the authority's decision and calling the fine "disproportionate".
Italy has imposed a substantial fine of €805 million ($887 million) on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited for violating a European privacy directive by using photos and videos from Android users' galleries on Facebook without proper consent or disclosure. The Italian Data Protection Authority found the "Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook" feature to be in breach of the directive, which protects smartphones as part of an individual's private space and mandates explicit consent for such data access.
The feature was found to be enabled by default, and Facebook requested broad permission to access galleries for various purposes within the app. The authority granted Meta 60 days to disable the feature and obtain separate consent for its use. With approximately 20 million Android users in Italy, the fine represents roughly 0.47% of Meta's global turnover. Meta challenged Italy's jurisdiction in the case.
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