Italy Fines Meta €805 Million Over Facebook's Android Gallery Access Without Explicit Consent
Italy has fined Meta €805 million over a Facebook feature that accessed users' photo galleries without explicit consent.
The Garante, Italy's data protection authority, found that Facebook's Android feature was enabled by default and accessed Italian users' photos, videos, and related metadata without their explicit consent. The company has 60 days to switch the feature off by default, including for people who have already granted the app gallery access, and to request consent separately.
Meta plans to appeal and calls the fine "disproportionate", a spokesperson said in a statement reported by Reuters. The app asks for gallery access via a single permission that covers the whole app and several functions with different purposes, the authority found.
The feature works only after users give permission on their device, and that they can change that permission at any time in their settings.
Privacy Violation
The authority found a breach of Article 122 of Italy's Privacy Code, which implements the EU's ePrivacy Directive. That rule treats a phone as part of a person's private life, requiring free and informed consent for any access to what the phone stores.
A general notice about enabling other features appears first, but it does not make it clear to users that they are also enabling gallery suggestions. Fully granted, a permission like this lets the app read the phone's whole photo archive, usually on an ongoing basis.
Required Changes
The Garante's order requires Meta to: within 60 days, ask for consent through a separate, specific request for this feature, and explain clearly what the feature is for, that it accesses the gallery, and how to turn it off.
The company must also keep the feature off by default within 60 days, including for people who already granted the permission. Within 30 days, Meta must report to the authority on the work it has started, and within 90 days, on the measures it has taken.
Investigation Details
The Centro Tutela Consumatori Utenti, the Bolzano consumer protection group whose complaint started the investigation, published consumer advice on July 11, 2025. It told users to switch off the gallery suggestion settings in the app and to check what access and permissions the Facebook app has on their phone.
The investigation did not examine whether gallery content was used to train AI models. The company denies any such use. The authority may separately examine a newer feature, launched this year, that allows gallery content to be processed in the cloud.
The fine equals about 0.47% of the group's global revenue. In setting it, the authority weighed the large number of people involved, about 20 million Android users in Italy, and how long the breach has lasted.
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