Instagram was fined 405 million euros for violating children’s privacy.
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) in Ireland has fined Instagram, the social media platform owned by US-based technology company Meta, amounting to 405 million euros for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Allegations of “violating children’s privacy”
Allegedly, Instagram is allegedly violating children’s privacy, including by posting children’s email addresses and phone numbers.
In a statement made by a spokesperson for the Irish Data Protection Commission, “We took our final decision last Friday and that includes a fine of 405 million euros” it was said.
The investigation was launched in September 2020
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) launched an investigation into social media platform Instagram in September 2020 regarding how it handled account details of underage youth.
The Irish authorities’ investigation focused on how Instagram retains the personal information of users between the ages of 13 and 17, including email addresses and phone numbers.
The investigation also revealed that the Instagram user registration system, the account’s privacy settings “special” child accounts by default, unless set to “general” He also examined whether it resulted in the setting of
“We do not agree with this fine and are considering appealing it”
According to the news of İHA, a spokesperson from Instagram’s parent company Meta said in a statement, “This investigation focused on the old settings we updated a year ago, and since then we’ve released many new features to help keep teens safe and their information private. Anyone under 18 when they join Instagram, their account is automatically set to private so they only know what they’re sharing. “Although we have been in contact with DPC throughout their investigation, we disagree with this fine and are considering appealing it.” used the phrases.
More details on the investigation will be released next week.
The second largest penalty in the EU
The penalty was the second largest imposed under the strict confidentiality rules of the European Union (EU). Earlier, the Data Protection Commission in Luxembourg fined Amazon company 746 million euros.
WhatsApp fined 225 million euros
On the other hand, the Data Protection Commission in Ireland carried out another investigation into other social media companies owned by Meta.
Last year, WhatsApp was fined 225 million euros for violating transparency rules about sharing people’s data with other Meta companies. Meta company has Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp.
