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Italy fine Meta at 805 million for accessing photos of users without permission

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 14/11/2026, 18:26:24 UTC.

Briefings

The Italian Data Protection Authority imposed an 805 million euro fine on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited for unauthorized access to user photos, videos, and metadata from 200 million Facebook users. This occurred via the 'Get suggestions from gallery while browsing Facebook' feature available since 2023, which used stored media to suggest posts without user consent. The investigation, launched in July 2025 following a consumer rights association complaint, concluded that the app required a single generic access permission valid across the entire platform, bypassing individual user consent. The fine represents approximately 0.47% of Meta's global revenue and was determined due to the large number of affected users, the duration of the violation, prior 2019 penalties, and Meta's lack of cooperation. Meta received 60 days to disable the feature by default, requiring specific consent for users who had already granted gallery access permissions.

Key points

• The Italian Data Protection Authority fined Meta Platforms Ireland Limited 805 million euros for unauthorized access to user photos and metadata.
• The violation occurred via the 'Get suggestions from gallery while browsing Facebook' feature available since 2023, which used stored media without individual user consent.

Context

The investigation was initiated in July 2025 following a complaint from a consumer rights association in Bolzano, Italy. The fine of 805 million euros is approximately 0.47% of Meta's global revenue and was determined due to the large number of affected users, the duration of the violation, and Meta's lack of cooperation during the investigation.

Limitations

The evidence covers only the Italian Data Protection Authority's investigation and fine. It does not include details about the specific 200 million users affected, the exact timeline of the feature's activation, or the specific technical methods used to access the data beyond the description of the 'Get suggestions from gallery while browsing Facebook' feature.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 14/11/2026, 18:29:43 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

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