Social media firm accused of not telling 20 million about photos
Italian regulators fined Meta €805 million for accessing Android users' photos without specific consent and ordered the feature off by default in 60 days.
The social media company is accused of failing to inform 20 million users that it had access to their photos.
The charge concerns a Facebook feature that suggests photos and videos from a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts.
Facebook requested access to users' photo galleries through a single app-wide authorisation.
The social media company is accused of failing to inform 20 million users that it had access to their photos.
The charge concerns a Facebook feature that suggests photos and videos from a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts.
Facebook requested access to users' photo galleries through a single app-wide authorisation.
According to the Italian regulator, a preceding notice did not make clear that this permission would also allow Facebook to generate suggestions based on photos in the gallery.
Meta rejected the findings. The company told the BBC:"We strongly disagree with the assessment of the facts, its application of the law, and the disproportionate level of the fine.".
"This is a straightforward feature which helps people post photos and videos to Facebook,"Meta said.
Dig deeper
What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social network for sharing posts, photos and videos, and it is the app whose gallery-suggestion feature is at the centre of the case.
What is Meta?
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and other apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and it is the firm rejecting the findings and the size of the fine.
What is the Italian regulator’s role here?
Italy’s data-protection authority checks whether companies explain personal-data access clearly and can impose fines when it finds the notice inadequate.
What does app-wide authorisation mean?
It is one permission covering the whole app, rather than a fresh prompt each time Facebook uses photos from a phone gallery.
Why does this matter?
Phone galleries can hold private images, so unclear permission notices raise the question of whether users knowingly agreed to that access.