Meta fined €805M in Italy over user data access
Meta (designated as an extremist organization and banned in Russia) has been fined €805 million in Italy for accessing Android user data without their consent, according to The Guardian on Sunday.
Consensus
- Meta was fined €805 million by Italian data protection authorities.
- The fine was due to unauthorized access to users' photos and videos from smartphone galleries.
- Meta accessed data from Android users' devices without obtaining separate consent.
- The company must obtain explicit consent for the feature within 60 days.
- Meta must clearly explain the function's purpose, data access, and how to disable it.
- The function must be disabled by default, even for users who previously granted access.
- Meta must report on implemented measures within 90 days.
- The company is associated with Facebook, which is banned in Russia and labeled extremist there.
Points of divergence
- The investigation began in July 2025. — vedomosti
- The feature was introduced in 2023 and is called 'Get suggestions from your gallery when viewing Facebook'. — vedomosti
- The issue involved access to data from over 20 million Italian users. — vedomosti
- A separate cybersecurity alert was issued about a vulnerability in iOS versions 26.7.1, 26.0.1, and 27.2, affecting Binance and potentially exposing recovery phrases and private keys. — vedomosti
- The regulator found that Meta accessed metadata associated with photos and videos. — vesti
Coverage (5 sources)
- They are watching you — Рыбарь
- Meta received a fine of 805 million euros in Italy for access to user data — Интерфакс
- Meta* fined €805 million in Italy. — РИА Новости (Telegram)
- In Italy, Meta Corporation was fined 805 million euros — Ведомости
- Italian authorities fined Meta for more than 800 million euros — Вести