Italy Fines Meta €805 Million Over Facebook's Android Gallery Access Without Explicit Consent
Summary: Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, fined Meta €805 million over a Facebook for Android feature that suggests photos and videos from users' phone galleries, finding it was enabled by default and accessed Italian users' photos, videos, and metadata without explicit consent. The authority found a breach of Article 122 of Italy's Privacy Code, gave Meta 60 days to switch the feature off by default and request consent separately, and Meta plans to appeal, calling the fine disproportionate.
Bottom line: The fine equals about 0.47% of the group's global revenue and was weighed against roughly 20 million Android users in Italy, with the breach still ongoing for people who have not updated the app and for those who already granted permission. A single whole-app permission that reads the phone's entire photo archive, on an ongoing basis, is the kind of access neither the user nor the regulator can audit.
Read the original at The Hacker News ↗
- Topics
- Privacy
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