Italy fines Meta €805m over access to Android users' photos
Italy's data protection authority has fined Meta Platforms €805 million. The regulator says the company accessed photos and videos on Android devices without users' knowledge or consent.
Author: Thames Compass editorial teamPublished: 2 min read
Contents
What the regulator found
Italy's data protection authority announced on Saturday, 14 November 2026, that it had fined Meta Platforms €805 million. According to the regulator, the company accessed photos and videos on devices running Android without informing users or asking for their consent.
The access was reportedly linked to a Facebook feature that suggested content from users' galleries for them to post. The investigation began in 2025. According to Reuters, as cited by money.pl, it did not concern the possible use of this material to train artificial intelligence models. Meta denies the practice described by the regulator.
Deadline for changes
The regulator gave the company 60 days to switch off this Facebook feature by default and make its operation dependent on users' consent. The available reports do not say how many users the case affects.
Background
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Earlier, the European Commission fined the company around €798 million over practices linked to Facebook Marketplace. Meta appealed that decision in January 2025.
What this means for you
The decision was issued by Italy's regulator. The sources do not say whether the changes will apply to users outside Italy, including in Poland and the UK, or whether the photo suggestion feature operates in every country. People who use Facebook on Android can check in their phone settings which photos the app can access.
Sources
This article was prepared automatically by AI from the listed sources and published without prior editorial review. Spotted a mistake? Use the “Report an error in this article” button.
Photos
- Cover: „people, woman, mobile, phone, touchscreen”, author: StockSnap, licence Pixabay Content License; cropped or resized.
- Photo 1: „table setting, place setting, vintage, vintage china, roses”, author: TerriC, licence Pixabay Content License; cropped or resized.
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