Italy Fines Meta $887 Million Over Access to Android Users’ Photos and Videos
Italy’s data protection authority has fined Meta Platforms €805 million ($887 million) for accessing Android users’ photographs and videos without obtaining their consent or properly informing them. The investigation found that Meta used a Facebook app feature that suggested content from users’ personal photo galleries for sharing on the platform. According to the regulator, the company accessed this content without providing sufficient transparency or obtaining the required permission from users.
The authority has given Meta 60 days to disable the feature by default and introduce a separate consent mechanism for users. The investigation, which began in 2025, did not examine whether the content was used to train artificial intelligence models, a practice Meta has denied. However, the regulator said it reserved the right to investigate separately another feature introduced in 2026 that allows users’ gallery content to be processed through cloud services. Meta was not immediately available for comment.
The €805 million penalty represents approximately 0.47% of Meta’s global revenue and adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of how technology companies collect and process personal information. The decision highlights increasing concerns over user privacy, data transparency and consent requirements, particularly when social media platforms access personal content stored on mobile devices. Meta has been given a limited period to comply with the regulator’s directions.
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