The penalty targets the "Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook" tool, which gathered user photos, videos, and metadata using generic consent mechanisms. In addition to levying the financial penalty, the Italian data privacy authority ordered the company to deactivate the automatic gallery suggestions and overhaul its vague user notifications. The decision was further compounded by a previous violation from 2019 and a noted lack of cooperation during the inquiry. The company retains the option to challenge the regulatory ruling in court.
Key points
Regulators issued the record fine because Meta failed to cooperate and had previously inc…: Regulators issued the record fine because Meta failed to cooperate and had previously incurred a privacy penalty in 2019.
Enabling media-access features by default on Android devices violated Italian laws that e…: Enabling media-access features by default on Android devices violated Italian laws that enact the European Union's ePrivacy directive.
The tech giant currently has the legal right to appeal the unprecedented enforcement acti…: The tech giant currently has the legal right to appeal the unprecedented enforcement action handed down by the Italian watchdog.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Regulator said Meta’s ‘lack of cooperation’ and the large number of people affected contributed to size of the fine.
Italian regulators have fined Meta 805 million euros ($887m) for accessing users’ photos without their consent.
The Facebook app on Android devices “accessed photos, videos and associated metadata stored on Italian users’ smartphones without specific consent and without informing them”, Garante, the Italian data privacy authority, said Saturday.
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The issue relates specifically to the “Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook” feature, which suggests photos and videos from the phone’s gallery for posting while browsing.
This feature violates the Italian law implementing the EU’s ePrivacy directive, the authority said.
Garante said the app’s process for collecting consent is too generic and does not allow users to fully understand the specific permissions they are allowing by accepting. The…
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