Meta fined $887M in Italy over Android gallery photos, videos on Facebook

Meta violated a European privacy directive incorporated into Italian law.

ROME -- Italy announced an €805 million ($887 million) fine against Meta on Saturday for using photos and videos from Android users’ galleries on Facebook without specific consent or adequate disclosure.

The Italian Data Protection Authority said the feature, called “Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook,” violated a European privacy directive incorporated into Italian law. The directive protects smartphones as part of a person’s private sphere and requires “free and informed consent” for such access, the authority said.

Investigators found that the feature was enabled by default and that Facebook requested gallery access through a single permission covering multiple app functions with different purposes.

The authority gave Meta 60 days to disable the feature and seek separate consent for its use. Italy has about 20 million Android users, the agency said.

Meta made no immediate comment.

The fine was imposed on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, which challenged Italy’s jurisdiction, according to the statement.

The authority said Meta’s “lack of cooperation” with the investigation factored into the penalty, which amounts to approximately 0.47% of the group’s global turnover.