The slap came from Ireland, but it applies to the entire EU. American social media giant MetaFacebook’s parent company has been hit hard good €265 million from the Irish regulator for not adequately protecting users’ data. “Commission Data protection (DPC) has announced the conclusion of an investigation into Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., a subsidiary of Meta and social network Facebook’s data governing body, imposing a €265 million fine and a series of corrective measures. ,” according to a statement Monday.

The DPC announced in April 2021 that it was launching an investigation targeting Facebook on behalf of the EU, after it was revealed that hackers had hacked the data of more than 530 million users dating back to 2019. The survey focused on “Facebook Search” applications. Facebook Messenger contact importer instagram Contact the importer (…) between 25 May 2018 and September 2019”, wanting to know whether Meta has adequately protected its users’ data in relation to European regulations.

Ireland, home of American giants

Facebook’s European headquarters are in Ireland, so it’s up to the Irish regulator to investigate. EU (EU). The DPC explains that the decision to fine Meta and related subsidiaries was taken on Friday following the discovery of “violations of European regulations (GDPR)”. Therefore, it issued an “order requiring MPIL to take a series of corrective measures” and an administrative penalty.

GDPR, which came into effect in 2018, gives regulators more power to protect consumers from Facebook’s dominance. GoogleApple and TwitterChosen by those attracted by the lucrative taxIreland As a home base. The regulation allows regulators to fine up to 4% of the global turnover of these groups.

Meta claims to have cooperated

In Facebook’s case, the hacked data in question was partially published on a hacker forum in early April, which Facebook explained was the work of “malicious actors.” The hack used a method known as “scraping” or robbing Facebook profiles through software that mimics the network’s operation to help members easily find friends and scrape contact lists.

“The Protection of personal data A spokesperson for Metta said people are critical to how our business operates. We have therefore co-operated fully with the Data Protection Commission on this important matter. We have made changes to our systems. »