Following an investigation into the 2018 data breach, Ireland’s privacy watchdog, acting on behalf of the European Union, fined Facebook owner Meta €251 million.
Ireland’s privacy watchdog has completed its investigation launched immediately after the Meta data breach in 2018. There, millions of personal data were exposed. Meta will now be fined €251 million, AP knows.
Meta to appeal
The data breach exposed data from millions of accounts and personal information. Hackers gained access by exploiting bugs in the platform’s code. This allowed them to steal digital keys. It was the Irish Data Protection Commission that imposed the sanction, as that commission is Meta’s main privacy regulator. Meta’s European headquarters is also based in Ireland.
This is far from the first time Meta has faced monster fines in Europe. Just last year, the social media giant had to cough up 1.2 billion euros due to GDPR violations. Early this year, Meta spiked European coffers with €797.72 million due to breaches of European antitrust laws. This was followed a few months later by a €91 million fine for storing passwords in plain text.
Meta would appeal the decision, saying it “proactively informed affected people and necessary authorities.” A Meta spokesperson informed The Register of this.