Instagram was penalised with €405 million by Irish authorities for abusing children’s privacy.
The ongoing issue centres on children’s data, notably their email and phone numbers.
According to reports, several users who wanted access to analytics tools like profile visits upgraded to corporate accounts without realising that doing so made more of their data public.
The company that owns Instagram, Meta, announced that it would challenge the ruling. The regulator has penalised the corporation three times.
According to a Meta representative, “We changed these options more than a year ago, and since then, we’ve added numerous new features to help keep kids secure and their information private. This inquiry focused on those updated settings.
“Anyone under the age of 18 immediately gets their Instagram account set to private when they join, meaning that adults cannot message teenagers who are not following them and that only people they know can see the content they post.
Even though we gave the DPC our full cooperation during their investigation, we disagree with how this punishment was calculated and want to challenge it.
“We’re still carefully reviewing the remainder of the choice,”
Many technological businesses are governed by the DPC with their European headquarters in the Republic of Ireland.
It has never imposed a fine this size on a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union.
However, it punished WhatsApp with €225 million last year, while the Luxembourgish data authority penalised Amazon with a record €746 million.
Andy Burrows, the head of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC) child safety online policy, commented on Instagram’s fine: “This was a serious breach with serious ramifications for child safety and the potential to actually damage children using Instagram.
“The decision shows how strong enforcement can safeguard kids on social media and emphasises how regulation is already enhancing kids’ online safety.
