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| Facebook parent company Meta | Photo: AP |
Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Facebook parent company Meta $263 million for alleged GDPR violations. Meta, one of Europe's leading regulators, has fined this huge amount after hackers exploited a Facebook flaw in 2018 to steal the data of about 29 million users.
The DPC investigation found that Facebook's parent company Meta had repeatedly violated the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law in terms of data protection. Therefore, after a lengthy investigation, the company was not only fined but also formally reprimanded and asked to take stricter action in the future.
In September 2018, a flaw in Facebook's 'View As' feature was discovered. Hackers exploited the flaw to steal access tokens from Facebook accounts and steal personal information and photos from 29 million users, including 3 million in Europe. The Data Protection Commission of Ireland has launched an investigation into Meta for violating the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation is essentially a data protection law. It strengthens users' control over personal data and forces organizations to adopt strict security measures. Since Meta is headquartered in Europe in Ireland, Meta's activities in the European Union are monitored and regulated by the country's Data Protection Commission.