Meta fined $275million for breaching EU data privacy legislation

LONDON — In the latest punishment against Meta for violating European privacy rules, the tech giant was fined nearly $275 million on Monday over a data leak, discovered last year, that led to personal information of more than 500 million Facebook users being released online.

The Data Protection Commission of Ireland imposed the penalty on Meta, bringing the total amount of fines it has imposed on Meta since last January to over $900 million. In SeptemberThe same regulator also fined Meta, formerly known as Facebook, nearly $400 million for its mishandling child’s data. In October last year, Irish authorities fined Meta, formerly called Facebook, €225 million, or about $235 million, for violations related to the messaging service WhatsApp.

Privacy groups who want to see EU regulators apply the General Data Protection Regulation more aggressively will welcome the piling penalties. Although the law was celebrated as a landmark in regulating tech companies, regulators have been criticised for not applying it aggressively enough.

Ireland is under increasing pressure due to its key role in enforcing EU data privacy rules. The 2018 Act is being enforced by the country. This is because many tech companies, including Meta, Google, Twitter, have their EU headquarters here. TikTok has also established an EU Hub in Ireland. This is the subject of another investigation.

Monday’s fine stems out of an investigation that was launched last year by Irish regulators. It looked into reports that Facebook failed its platform to “steal” information. Data was published on an online forum which included users’ names as well as their locations. violated rules that require companies protecting personal information.

Meta stated that unauthorized data collection is against company rules. The company stated that it has changed its policies in order to prevent such practices. Meta did not state whether it would appeal the decision as it did with the Instagram or WhatsApp penalties.

Meta isn’t the only tech company under scrutiny. Amazon was fined over 750 million euros by regulators from Luxembourg last year for its online advertising practices. This is where it is located in Europe. It was Google in January. finedFrench regulators fined 150 million euros because users weren’t given enough options to refuse so-called tracking cookie that online advertisers use in order to track a person’s Internet browsing history.