Make New York Post a Preferred Source Italy announced an €805 million ($887 million) fine against Meta on Saturday for using photos and videos from Android users’ galleries on Facebook without specific consent or adequate disclosure.
The Italian Data Protection Authority said the feature, called “Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook,” violated a European privacy directive incorporated into Italian law. The directive protects smartphones as part of a person’s private sphere and requires “free and informed consent” for such access, the authority said.
Meta has been fined around $887 million by Italy after using Android users’ photo galleries without consent. Koshiro K – stock.adobe.com Investigators found that the feature was enabled by default and that Facebook requested gallery access through a single permission covering multiple app functions with different purposes.
The authority gave Meta 60 days to disable the feature and seek separate consent for its use. Italy has about 20 million Android users, the agency said.
The fine was imposed on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, which challenged Italy’s jurisdiction, according to the statement.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Rome, Italy, on Sept. 16, 2024. Getty Images The authority said Meta’s “lack of cooperation” with the investigation factored into the penalty, which amounts to approximately 0.47% of the group’s global turnover.
