Italy's data protection agency said on Saturday it had fined Meta Platforms €805 million ($887 million) after finding the company had accessed Android users' photographs and videos without obtaining their consent or informing them.
Meta had access to Android users’ photos and videos through a Facebook app feature that suggested content from users’ personal galleries that they could post, the authority said in a statement.
Meta has 60 days to disable the feature by default and seek users’ separate consent, the authority said.
A Meta spokesperson said the company would appeal, strongly disagreeing with the authority’s decision and calling the fine “disproportionate”.
“This is a simple feature that helps people share photos and videos on Facebook.
Users must grant permission on their device before the feature can operate, and they can change that permission at any time in their settings,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The investigation, which began in 2025, did not cover the possible use of the content to train artificial intelligence models, a practice Meta denied, the authority said.
The authority also said it had reserved the right to assess separately a new feature, launched in 2026, that allows content from users’ galleries to be processed in the cloud.
The fine is equivalent to about 0.47 per cent of the group’s global revenue, the authority said.
Around 20 million Android users in Italy have been affected, it added.
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SpaceX's spacecraft on Saturday returned from a 22-hour voyage in orbit and descended for the first time into the grasp of giant mechanical arms at the Texas tower it was launched from a day earlier, a catch that is essential to the company's decade-long effort to develop a fully reusable rocket.
The Philippines and Australia signed a new defence cooperation arrangement in Manila on Sunday, aimed at accelerating joint military activities and strengthening security ties amid tensions with China in the South China Sea.
Southeast Asian leaders opened the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila Sunday, with Myanmar's crisis, security and economic uncertainty dominating talks. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for continued engagement with Myanmar and urged a stronger response to conflict and energy disruptions.
U.S. air travel is not expected to return to normal schedules until late on Sunday (15 November), the head of the FAA said, as the aviation system gradually recovers from a nationwide flight shutdown that officials blamed on routine maintenance gone awry.
Irish army bomb disposal experts safely neutralised an explosive device discovered in central Dublin on Friday (13 November), close to where European leaders gathered for dinner the previous evening during a two-day summit. Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
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