Meta fined $880m in Italy over unauthorised access to Facebook photos

Italian regulators have imposed a hefty fine of 805 million euros ($880 million) on Meta, the parent company of Facebook, for unauthorized access to users' photos without their explicit consent. The data protection authority in Italy cited Meta's failure to obtain specific consent and provide proper information to users when accessing their photos, videos, and related metadata through its Facebook application for Android devices.

The fine, which is the largest ever imposed on a tech giant in Italy, is considered a significant penalty for the company's breach of data protection regulations.

The penalty was determined based on several factors, including the high number of affected users – around 20 million Android users in Italy – the duration of the infringement, which continues for those who have not updated the app or given their consent, and Meta's lack of cooperation during the investigation. The regulator also noted that the fine amounts to approximately 0.4% of Meta's annual turnover, which reached $201 billion in 2025.

The penalty applies specifically to Meta's gallery suggestions feature, introduced in 2023, which recommends photos and videos from a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts as they browse. The regulator found that Meta's request for gallery access through a single authorization, accompanied by a generic notice, did not adequately inform users that they were allowing suggestions from their photo gallery.

Meta will now be required to seek consent through a separate, specific request and clearly indicate the purpose of access to the photo gallery, as well as provide instructions on how to disable the feature.