SURYATAPA CHAKRABORTY, The Hill; Italy fines Meta $887M for accessing users’ photos without specific consent
"Italy announced Saturday it is handing Meta an $887 million fine for using photos and videos from Android users’ Facebook galleries without specific consent.
Investigators found Facebook had enabled a “get suggestions from gallery when browsing” feature by default and requested access to users’ personal photo library through a single permission notice, according to a release from the Italian Data Protection Authority naming Meta’s Irish subsidiary.
The agency said the “generic” nature of the authorization notice violated an Italian law that protects smartphones as part of a person’s private sphere and requires “free and informed consent” for access. The law stems from the European Union’s broader “ePrivacy Directive.”
It gave Meta 60 days to make the feature “turned off by default” and adjust the consent notice to include “a separate and specific request for the feature and clearly explain to users what it is for, that it involves access to the gallery, and how to disable it.”
The fine comes as Meta faces multiple legal battles in the U.S. regarding children’s use of its social media platforms, many alleging its sites are unsafe for young users due to addictive qualities."
