Italy fines Meta €805 million over Android users' photo access

Italy's data protection agency fined Meta €805 million for Facebook accessing Android users' photos and videos without consent via a feature suggesting content from personal galleries. Meta must disable the feature by default within 60 days and seek separate consent.

Italy's data protection agency fined Meta Platforms €805 million ($887 million) on Saturday after finding the company accessed Android users' photos and videos without consent or notice. The authority said Meta had access through a Facebook app feature that suggested content from users' personal galleries for posting. Meta has 60 days to disable the feature by default and seek separate user consent. The fine is equivalent to about 0.47% of the group's global revenue. The investigation, which began in 2025, did not cover possible use of the content to train AI models, a practice Meta denied. The authority reserved the right to separately assess a new 2026 feature that processes gallery content in the cloud. Meta was not immediately available for comment.