Tech · Gallery consentItaly Meta Android fine: €805 million penalty and separate photo consentWritten November 14, 2026 at 3:37 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:00Italy Meta Android fine Euro eight hundred five million penalty and separate photo0:04consent.0:07Italy fined Meta eight hundred five million euros over Facebook's access to private0:11phone galleries.0:12The case involves about twenty million Android users, and Meta must change how it0:16asks to use their pictures.0:18The unresolved issue is whether that change will reach people who already gave0:21Facebook broad access to their galleries.0:23A consumer protection center in Bolzano prompted the investigation, which began in0:27July20205 .0:28Italy's privacy regulator, the Garante, then conducted a technical analysis of how0:33Facebook obtained permission to draw posting suggestions from people's phones.0:37The feature has been available since2023 .0:40While someone browses Facebook, it suggests photos and videos from their phone's0:43gallery that they might publish.0:44The Garante announced the penalty against Meta's Irish business on November14,2026 ,0:49alongside orders to change that feature's consent process and default setting.0:53The eight hundred five million euro penalty is approximately eight hundred eighty0:57seven million dollars.0:58The regulator puts it at about zero point four seven percent of Meta's worldwide1:01turnover.1:02It hasn't specified the turnover year or published the full calculation behind the1:06fine.1:06The Garante weighed the number of users and how long the violation lasted.1:10It also considered a previous measure against Meta in two thousand and nineteen and1:13poor cooperation during the investigation.1:15Meta's changes after the complaint helped reduce the penalty, but the regulator1:19called them late and limited to people who updated the app.1:22Facebook requested one gallery authorization covering the whole app and several1:26functions with different needs.1:27The notice used the generic phrase enable other functions.1:30The garante found that users weren't clearly told they were also agreeing to1:33gallery, based posting suggestions.1:36The suggestion feature was already switched on by default.1:39When full gallery access is granted, that kind of permission lets the app read the1:43entire photographic archive, generally on an ongoing basis.1:47The regulator said users couldn't verify which information was actually being used,1:51and its own investigators couldn't verify that either.1:53The legal protection starts with access to that private store of information.1:57For this gallery suggestion feature, the Garante says users had to give free,2:02informed consent even if nothing was transmitted elsewhere and even without proof of2:05further harm.2:06Subscribe to this channel to follow whether Meta's changes reach people who already2:10granted gallery access.2:11Meta challenged the Italian regulator's authority to act, arguing that the Irish2:15regulator should handle the case.2:17The Garante rejected that objection.2:19It applied Italy's privacy code under Europe's e-privacy rules, which don't provide2:23the single regulator arrangement Meta invoked.2:25Meta's Irish base therefore didn't remove the case from Italian enforcement.2:29Meta has thirty days to report the initiatives it has begun.2:32Within sixty days, it must obtain separate, specific consent and keep the feature2:37off by default.2:38It must report the measures adopted within ninety days.2:41That later report doesn't extend the settings deadline.2:44The separate request must explain what the feature does, that it accesses the2:47gallery and how to switch it off.2:49Default off must also cover people who previously granted permission.2:53After the deadline, users without valid consent can't have the feature activated.2:57The exact calendar deadlines aren't clear because the notification date hasn't been3:01made public.3:01Meta denies using gallery contents to train artificial intelligence, and this3:05proceeding didn't examine that use.3:07The Garante reserved separate checks for a new feature launched in two thousand and3:10twenty-six that allows cloud processing of gallery contents.3:14Those checks are separate from this penalty.3:16The order requires a new choice for existing users as well as new ones.3:19Whether Meta has delivered that change across existing permissions is still unclear.3:24The regulator found that the violation continued for people who hadn't updated the3:27app and for those who had already granted system permission.3:30An app update alone had left some affected users outside the remedy.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
