Italy’s data protection authority has fined Meta €805 million ($887 million) for accessing photographs, videos and related metadata belonging to Italian Facebook users without obtaining specific consent or adequately explaining how the information would be used.
The penalty concerns Facebook’s gallery suggestions feature, introduced in 2023, which recommends photographs and videos stored on users’ mobile phones as potential content for posts while they browse the application.
Meta accessed the material through its Facebook application for Android devices, according to the Italian regulator, which said the company failed to secure specific permission for the feature.
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Meta said it would appeal the decision, challenging both the regulator’s findings and the size of the penalty.
“We strongly disagree” with the regulators’ assessment and “the disproportionate level of the fine”, a company spokesperson said.
The ruling is among the largest penalties imposed by an Italian authority on a technology company and adds to mounting regulatory pressure on Meta over its handling of personal information.
Under the investigation, the regulator says Facebook’s permission request was insufficient.
The Italian authority said Facebook requested access to users’ phone galleries through a single authorization covering the application, preceded by a general notification asking users to enable other features.
According to the regulator, the process did not make clear that granting permission would also allow Facebook to access photographs and videos for its gallery suggestions feature.
The authority said users were therefore not adequately informed about the specific purpose of the access before granting permission.
Under the ruling, Meta must introduce a separate and specific consent request for the feature. The company must clearly explain that enabling it involves access to a user’s photo gallery, identify how the information will be used, and provide instructions for disabling the function.
The regulator said approximately 20 million Android users in Italy were affected by the practice. It also considered the duration of the infringement, which it said remained ongoing for users who had not updated their applications and for those who had already consented to the existing system.
The authority cited Meta’s lack of cooperation during the investigation as another factor in determining the penalty.
The €805 million fine represents roughly 0.4% of Meta’s annual turnover. The company reported revenue of $201 billion and net profit of $60.5 billion in 2025.
The dispute hangs on the distinction between granting an application general access to a device’s photo gallery and giving informed permission for a particular feature to use that material. The regulator’s position is that users should have been told explicitly that their photographs and videos could be used to generate posting suggestions.
The Italian penalty comes shortly after authorities in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in late October over allegations that it had misled state residents for more than a decade about its use of their data.
The New Mexico penalty was described as a record fine for the company. Meta criticized the decision, calling it a “tax” on freedom of expression.
The two cases involve separate legal proceedings and different allegations, but both concern regulatory scrutiny of how Meta collects, uses, and communicates information about its users.
Italy has previously imposed substantial penalties on major technology companies. In 2021, Amazon received a fine of more than €1.1 billion for breaching competition law. The amount was subsequently reduced to €752 million following an appeal.
Meta’s appeal against the latest Italian decision will determine whether the €805 million penalty is upheld or changed. The company has not indicated whether it will also alter the gallery suggestions feature while the legal challenge proceeds.
The ruling raises broader questions for digital platforms that seek access to information stored on users’ devices to personalize services and recommend content. Regulators are placing greater emphasis on whether permission requests explain the specific uses of personal information, rather than relying on broad authorizations that cover multiple application functions.
While the financial penalty is relatively small compared with Meta’s annual revenue, the required changes to consent procedures could affect how Facebook presents features that rely on access to personal photographs and videos. The appeal will also test the regulator’s position on the level of disclosure required before a platform can use information stored on a user’s device.