Meta slurps up EU user data for AI training

European Facebook users have so far avoided having their public posts used to train parent company Meta's AI model. That's about to change, the company has warned. In a blog post today, it said that EU residents' data was fair game and it would be slurping up public posts for training soon...

Meta Fined €251 Million for 2018 Data Breach Impacting 29 Million Accounts

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, has been fined €251 million around $263 million for a 2018 data breach that impacted millions of users in the bloc, in what's the latest financial hit the company has taken for flouting stringent privacy laws. The...

Meta Pauses AI Training on EU User Data Amid Privacy Concerns

Meta on Friday said it's delaying its efforts to train the company's large language models LLMs using public content shared by adult users on Facebook and Instagram in the European Union following a request from the Irish Data Protection Commission DPC. The company expressed disappointment at...

TikTok Faces Massive €345 Million Fine Over Child Data Violations in E.U.

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC slapped TikTok with a €345 million about $368 million fine for violating the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation GDPR in relation to its handling of children's data. The investigation, initiated in September 2021, examined how the popular...

TikTok facing fines for violating children’s privacy

The European Data Protection Board is expected to fine TikTok for violating the privacy of young children within the next four weeks. The European Data Protection Board said a binding decision has been reached over TikTok's processing of childrens data, after the ByteDance-owned app submitted leg...

Instagram's Twitter Alternative 'Threads' Launch Halted in Europe Over Privacy Concerns

Instagram Threads, the upcoming Twitter competitor from Meta, will not be launched in the European Union due to privacy concerns, according to Ireland's Data Protection Commission DPC. The development was reported by the Irish Independent, which said the watchdog has been in contact with the soci...

Instagram's Twitter Alternative 'Threads' Launch Halted in Europe Over Privacy Concerns

Instagram Threads, the upcoming Twitter competitor from Meta, will not be launched in the European Union due to privacy concerns, according to Ireland's Data Protection Commission DPC. The development was reported by the Irish Independent, which said the watchdog has been in contact with the soci...

WhatsApp Hit with €5.5 Million Fine for Violating Data Protection Laws

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC on Thursday imposed fresh fines of €5.5 million against Meta's WhatsApp for violating data protection laws when processing users' personal information. At the heart of the ruling is an update to the messaging platform's Terms of Service that was imposed in...

WhatsApp Hit with €5.5 Million Fine for Violating Data Protection Laws

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC on Thursday imposed fresh fines of €5.5 million against Meta's WhatsApp for violating data protection laws when processing users' personal information. At the heart of the ruling is an update to the messaging platform's Terms of Service that was imposed in...

Irish Regulators Fine Facebook $414 Million for Forcing Users to Accept Targeted Ads

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC has fined Meta Platforms €390 million roughly $414 million over its handling of user data for serving personalized ads in what could be a major blow to its ad-fueled business model. To that end, the privacy regulator has ordered Meta Ireland to pay two fin...

Facebook Fined $276M under GDPR

Facebook--Meta--was just fined $276 million USD for a data leak that included full names, birth dates, phone numbers, and location. Metas total fine by the Data Protection Commission is over $700 million. Total GDPR fines are over €2 billion EUR since 2018...

Facebook Hit With $18.6 Million GDPR Fine Over 12 Data Breaches in 2018

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC on Tuesday slapped Facebook and WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms a fine of €17 million $18.6 million for a series of security lapses that occurred in violation of the European Union's GDPR laws in the region. "The DPC found that Meta Platforms failed to have ...

WhatsApp hit with €225 million fine for GDPR violations

WhatsApp was hit with a €225 million fine for violating the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR, the European Union’s sweeping data protection law that has been in effect for more than three years. The fine represents the highest ever penalty levied by the Irish Data Protection Commission,...

New York, Canada, Ireland Launch New Investigations Into Facebook Privacy Breaches

Facebook has a lot of problems, then there are a lot of problems for Facebook—and both are not going to end anytime sooner. Though Facebook has already set aside $5 billion from its revenue to cover a possible fine the company is expecting as a result of an FTC investigation over privacy...

EU Audit Forces Changes To Facebook Privacy Policies

An audit of Facebook’s operations by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland will result in major changes to the way the social networking giant manages user data. The 143 page report, issued on Wednesday, calls on Facebook to give users more control over how their personal...