Italy fines Meta $900M over Facebook photo access
Italy's data protection authority has imposed an €805 million ($900 million) fine on Meta over Facebook's access to photos and videos stored on users' smartphones without obtaining sufficiently clear and informed consent, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Anadolu.
According to the regulator, approximately 20 million Android users in Italy may have been affected by the practice, which involved a Facebook feature designed to suggest photos and videos from users' galleries for sharing on the platform.
Introduced in 2023, the feature, called "Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook," allowed Facebook to access content stored on smartphones after users granted permission.
However, investigators found that the app relied on a broadly worded permission request covering several functions, without adequately explaining that it could also provide access to users' photo galleries.
The feature was also enabled by default, potentially exposing users' entire photo collections once permission had been granted.
The investigation began in July 2025 following a complaint from the Bolzano Consumer Protection Center and included a technical examination of Facebook's Android application.
The Italian regulator concluded that Meta had violated national privacy legislation implementing the European Union's ePrivacy Directive, which requires users to provide specific and informed consent before information stored on their devices can be accessed.
Under the ruling, Meta must introduce a separate permission request for the feature, clearly explain how it works, and ensure that it remains disabled unless users explicitly activate it.
The company has 60 days to implement the changes, including for users who previously granted access. It must also submit an initial compliance report within 30 days and provide further details within 90 days.
In determining the penalty, the authority considered the potential number of affected users, the duration of the practice, Meta's previous regulatory history, and what it described as insufficient cooperation during the investigation.
The regulator clarified that the proceedings did not examine whether users' photos were used to train artificial intelligence systems. It also left open the possibility of a separate investigation into a cloud-based photo processing feature introduced in 2026.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading Facebook users.