Italy's privacy regulator fines Meta €805 million
TechFlow reported on November 14 that, according to an announcement by Italy’s personal data protection authority, regulators have fined Meta Platforms Ireland Limited 805 million euros for accessing photos, videos, and related metadata from Italian users’ mobile phones via the Android version of the Facebook app without obtaining specific consent or adequately informing users.
The investigation concerns a photo album content recommendation feature launched in 2023. Regulators require Meta to turn the feature off by default within 60 days and to separately and explicitly obtain user consent. Regulators stated that the determination of the fine amount took into account factors such as the impact on approximately 20 million Italian Android users.
