Italian regulator imposes €805 million penalty on Meta for photo access

Italy’s Data Protection Authority has levied an €805 million (£670 million; $887 million) fine on Meta after finding the company accessed the photo and video galleries of roughly 20 million Android users without clear consent, and ordered the feature to be disabled by default within 60 days.

Why did the regulator impose the €805 million fine?

The authority said Meta’s Facebook app requested a single, app‑wide permission that let it read users’ galleries and suggest posts, but it did not adequately inform users that their photos could be used for suggestions, affecting about 20 million people, according to BBC News.

What compliance steps has Meta been given?

BBC News reports the regulator gave Meta 60 days to turn off the gallery‑suggestion feature by default and to seek explicit consent from each user before accessing their media.

How has Meta reacted to the penalty?

Meta told the BBC it “strongly disagrees” with the regulator’s assessment, calling the fine disproportionate and insisting the feature is straightforward, that users must grant device permission and can change it anytime in settings.

The fine is among the largest ever imposed by an Italian authority on a tech giant, and it follows a recent U.S. judgment ordering Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading the public about its data handling, BBC News added.