- Enforcing jurisdiction
- Ireland · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
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- Privacy topics
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited – €251,000,000 Fine (Ireland, 2024)
Privacy enforcement record
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Meta Platforms Ireland Limited was fined EUR 251 million for a data breach that affected 29 million Facebook accounts. This is important because it shows that large companies must take data protection seriously and can face hefty fines for failing to do so. It serves as a warning to all businesses about the consequences of data breaches.
What happened
Meta was fined for failing to protect user data during a breach that compromised sensitive information.
Who was affected
29 million Facebook users worldwide, including 3 million in the EU/EEA, whose data was compromised.
What the authority found
The Irish DPA ruled that Meta violated GDPR by not ensuring adequate data protection measures were in place during the breach.
Why this matters
This case sets a strong precedent for accountability in data protection, especially for large tech companies. It reminds all businesses to prioritize data security to avoid severe penalties.
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The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Meta Platforms Ireland Limited EUR 251 million. The fine was imposed for data protection violations related to a data breach that occurred in 2018 and affected 29 million Facebook accounts worldwide, including 3 million in the EU/EEA. Compromised data included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and children's data. The breach resulted from the exploitation of user tokens on the platform by unauthorized third parties. The DPC found that Meta had violated Art. 33 GDPR (EUR 11 million), as information was missing from the data breach notification, for example. The DPC also found violations of Art. 25 GDPR (EUR 240 million), concluding that Meta had failed to ensure that data protection principles were protected in the design of processing systems and had failed in its obligations as a controller to ensure that, by default, only personal data that are necessary for specific purposes are processed.
Related Enforcement Actions (1)
Other enforcement actions involving Meta Platforms Ireland Limited in IE
Details
Fine Date
17 December 2024
Authority
Data Protection Commission
Fine Amount
€251,000,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-2484
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Meta Platforms Ireland Limited - Ireland (2024). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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