Italy fines Meta €805m over Android photo access

Summarised from 6 outlets · Updated 15 Nov, 06:56 · Archive

Italy's data protection authority fined Meta €805 million for accessing users' photos without specific consent via a Facebook feature.

Italy's data protection authority has imposed a fine of €805 million on Meta, Facebook's parent company, for accessing photographs and videos from Android users without obtaining their specific consent. The fine is among the largest ever issued by Italian regulators to a technology company.

The violation relates to a feature available since 2023 that suggests photos and videos from a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts while browsing Facebook. Meta requested access to users' photo galleries through a single authorisation valid for the entire app. According to the authority, this permission request was preceded by a generic warning that did not allow users to understand they were authorising photo and video suggestions from their gallery.

The Italian Data Protection Authority said that if granted in full, this type of permission allows the app to read the device's entire photo archive, usually permanently, without users or authorities being able to verify which information is actually being used. The authority estimated that roughly 20 million Italian Android users could have been affected.

The regulator said Meta must fix the consent notification to make clear what permissions users are granting and must disable the feature by default. The company has 60 days to comply with these requirements. The authority also cited Meta's 'lack of cooperation' during the investigation, which was launched in 2025, and noted that an earlier violation resulting in a 2019 fine was a contributing factor in their decision. The fine represents approximately 0.4 to 0.47 per cent of Meta's global turnover.

Meta disputed the decision, with a company spokesperson telling the BBC and others that it 'strongly disagreed' with the authority's assessment and called the fine 'disproportionate'. The company said the feature is straightforward and that people must give permission on their device before it can operate, with the ability to change this setting at any time. Meta said it plans to appeal the decision and has the right to do so.

The proceedings did not address the possible use of content to train artificial intelligence, which Meta has denied. The company's European headquarters are in Ireland, and Meta had previously argued that data privacy cases should fall under Irish legal jurisdiction, an objection the Italian authority rejected.

How it is being reported

• Italy fines Meta $887m for accessing Android users’ photos and videosThe fine is among the largest an Italian authority has imposed on a tech giant and Meta says it plans to appeal the decision Italy’s data protection agency has fined Facebook parent company Meta €805m ($887m) for accessing users’ photos without their specific consent. Through the Facebook application for Android devices, Meta accessed photographs, videos and related metadata belonging to Italian users “without obtaining specific consent and without properly informing them”, the authority said in a statement. Continue reading...The Guardian · 15 Nov, 02:02
• Italy slaps Meta with €805mn fine over access to Android photosItalian regulators say Meta accessed photos and multimedia content from Italian users via the Facebook application for Android devices. Meta has not yet commented on the fine or the allegations.DW News · 14 Nov, 18:41
• Italy fines Meta $880 million over accessing users' photosThe country's data protection authority said Meta accessed users' photos without their "specific" consent.CBS News · 14 Nov, 18:33
• Italy fines Meta €805m over accessing users' photosThe social media giant is accused of not informing about 20 million users it had access to their photos.BBC Technology · 14 Nov, 16:29
• Italy fines Meta $880m over photo privacyRegulator said Meta's 'lack of cooperation' and the large number of people affected contributed to size of the fine.Al Jazeera · 14 Nov, 16:16
• Italy hits Meta with €805m fine over privacy law violationIt is the largest fine ever issued by Italy's data protection regulator.Politico Europe · 14 Nov, 14:03

In this story: Meta · Italy · Italian Data Protection Authority · Facebook · Android

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