Italy fines Meta $887 million over access to Android users’ photos and videos
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Italy’s data protection authority has fined Meta €805 million ($887 million) for accessing users’ photos, videos, and related metadata without obtaining specific consent.
The penalty relates to Facebook’s gallery suggestions feature, introduced in 2023. The feature suggests photos and videos from users’ phone galleries as ideas for posts while they browse the app.
According to the regulator, Facebook sought access to users’ galleries through a single authorisation covering the entire application. A generic notification asking users to enable other features did not clearly explain that it would also allow Facebook to access their photo galleries.
The authority said Meta must now seek separate and specific consent for the feature. It must also clearly explain how the feature works and how users can disable it.
About 20 million Android users in Italy were affected. The regulator said it considered the large number of people affected, the duration of the infringement, and Meta’s lack of cooperation during the investigation while determining the penalty.
The authority added that the infringement was still ongoing for users who had not updated the application and those who had already consented to the system.
Meta said it would appeal the decision. A company spokesperson said “we strongly disagree” with the assessment by the regulators “and the disproportionate level of the fine”.
The fine amounts to around 0.4% of Meta’s annual turnover. The company reported revenue of $201 billion and a net profit of $60.5 billion in 2025.
The penalty is among the largest imposed by an Italian authority on a technology company. Amazon was fined more than €1.1 billion in 2021 for breaching competition law. The amount was later reduced to €752 million on appeal.