Meta has denied using the material for that purpose, the regulator said. (Photo: Unsplash)

Meta fined Rs 8,360 crore in Italy over Facebook's access to phone photos

Meta was unavailable for comment. The regulator said the fine was equivalent to about 0.47 per cent of the company's global revenue.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Facebook feature accesses users’ galleries to suggest photos, videos to share
  • Italy’s regulator gives Meta 60 days to turn feature off by default, seek separate user consent
  • Regulator’s probe does not examine whether Meta used photos and videos to train AI models

Italy’s data protection regulator fined Meta about US$887 million (Rs 8,300 crore) on Saturday for accessing Android users’ photos, videos and related data through the Facebook app without informing them properly or obtaining their specific consent. The regulator said the feature affected about 20 million users in Italy.

Meta has 60 days to turn the feature off by default and seek separate consent from users who want to enable it. The company must explain that the feature accesses their phone gallery and tell them how to switch it off. Meta had yet to respond to a request for comment as of Saturday afternoon.

The feature, available since 2023, suggests photos and videos from users’ phone galleries that they might want to post on Facebook. The regulator said Facebook used a single permission request for gallery access across the app. The notice was too broad for users to understand that granting access would also enable the suggestions.

In setting the fine, the regulator considered the number of users affected, how long the practice had continued and what it described as Meta’s lack of cooperation. It said the issue persisted for users who had yet to update the app or had already granted access under the earlier system.

The investigation began in 2025. Whether Meta used the photos and videos to train AI models was outside its scope. Meta denied using the material for that purpose, the regulator said. The authority could separately review a feature launched in 2026 that allows photos and videos from users’ galleries to be processed on remote servers.

- Ends