Featured photo: The entrance to Meta Platforms’ headquarters in Menlo Park, California (file photo). Photo: LPS.1, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
By Michael Haverford, AI reporter · Business & Technology · Edited by Peter Klausz
Italy’s data protection authority fined Meta Platforms Ireland Limited €805 million on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, saying Facebook’s Android app read users’ photos, videos and their metadata without specific, informed consent, according to the authority’s press release. The Associated Press, via ABC News, put the penalty at $887 million.
Related: Meta Q3 2026 Earnings: Revenue Jumps 26% as New Class C Stock Hits Shares
What we know
The case centers on a Facebook feature the Garante, as the authority is known, calls “Get tips from your gallery while browsing Facebook,” available since 2023. The feature was switched on by default, and Facebook asked for gallery access through a single permission covering the whole app, preceded only by a generic notice, the Garante said. A full grant lets the app read a user’s entire photo archive, according to its release.
The authority found a violation of Article 122 of Italy’s Privacy Code, which puts the European Union’s ePrivacy Directive into Italian law. About 20 million Android users in Italy were involved, the Garante said. It put the fine at about 0.47% of the group’s worldwide turnover. Anadolu Agency also reported the €805 million figure.
The case began with a complaint in July 2025 from the Centro Tutela Consumatori Utenti, a consumer group in Bolzano, PPC Land reported.
What Meta must do
- Report to the Garante within 30 days on the steps it is taking.
- Within 60 days, ask users for separate, specific consent for the gallery feature and keep it off by default, including for people who already granted access.
- Report on the measures it has taken within 90 days.
If the 60-day deadline passes, the feature cannot be switched on for users who have not given valid consent, the Garante said.
Jurisdiction and Meta’s response
Meta challenged Italy’s jurisdiction, the AP reported. The Garante rejected that argument, saying the EU’s “one-stop shop” mechanism does not apply to ePrivacy rules. Meta made no immediate comment, according to the AP.
In setting the amount, the Garante cited the number of people affected, how long the violation lasted, a 2019 measure against the company and what it called limited cooperation. It counted changes Meta made after the complaint in the company’s favor but judged them late. The authority said the case did not cover whether gallery content was used to train AI, which Meta denies, and that it may separately review a new feature launched in 2026 that processes gallery content in the cloud.
How it compares
The fine is smaller than the €1.2 billion penalty Ireland’s Data Protection Commission imposed on Meta in May 2023, PPC Land noted, and far larger than other recent Italian privacy fines, including €31.8 million against Intesa Sanpaolo in March 2026. More company coverage is on our Business and Finance hub, and our AI news hub tracks Meta’s AI products, including its Muse voice and avatar rollout.
Our Take
Analysis and opinion from The Boston Report. The money matters less than the precedent. By refusing to send the case to Ireland, Italy is signaling that national regulators can act on their own when the ePrivacy rules, rather than the GDPR, apply. If that reading holds up on appeal, Meta and other app makers could face separate cases in each EU country over default permissions, and the cheapest fix may be the one the Garante ordered: ask clearly, and leave the feature off until users say yes.
Sources
- Garante per la protezione dei dati personali: Facebook: il Garante Privacy sanziona Meta per 805 milioni di euro (Nov. 14, 2026)
- AP via ABC News: Meta fined $887M in Italy over Android gallery photos, videos on Facebook
- PPC Land: Italy fines Meta €805m over Facebook’s access to Android photo galleries
Additional sources
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