Ireland slaps a record $400 million fine on Instagram over children’s data

Ireland has slapped a record $400 mln fine on Instagram over children’s data!

• Parent company Meta is appealing the ruling.
• The spokesperson said Instagram disagrees with how the fine was calculated and is carefully reviewing the decision.
• An investigation found that the social media site published private phone numbers and email addresses of underage users.

Ireland’s data privacy regulator slapped with a record fine of 405 million euros ($402 million) on the video and photo sharing platform following an investigation into the social network’s handling of teenagers’ personal data.

As reported, an investigation, which started in 2020, centered on how Instagram displayed the personal details of users ages 13 to 17, including email addresses and phone numbers.

While the minimum age for Instagram users is 13.

The investigation ruled Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, was a violation of the country’s laws protecting child data online.

The Data Protection Commission regulates Meta’s companies, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as Apple, Google, and other tech giants, which have their European headquarters in Ireland.

On the other hand, Instagram plans to appeal against the fine, a spokesperson for parent company Meta Platforms Inc. said in an emailed statement.

Meta said that while it had “engaged fully” with regulators throughout the investigation, adding “we disagree with how this fine was calculated and intend to appeal it.”

This penalty is the second-biggest issued under the European Union’s stringent privacy rules after Luxembourg’s regulators fined Amazon 746 million euros last year.

Well, this is not for the first time that Meta has fallen awry against European data laws.

Ba 2018, WhatsApp was slapped with a €225 million fine, a record sum at the time, for failing to comply with EU data rules.