Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, faces a possibly hefty fine for infringing on children’s privacy on its Instagram service months after setting aside hundreds of millions of euros to meet the cost of regulatory inspections.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been a massive player in regulating how big tech companies use consumers’ personal data, giving the Data Protection Commission (DPC) broad authority to oversee many companies, including Meta.
However, the actions to penalize Meta in the Instagram case have sparked a disagreement among European data authorities, with six refusing to support the proposed penalties.
The grounds behind regulators’ objections in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway are unknown.
The European Data Protection Board, responsible for GDPR compliance in the EU and certain non-EU countries, is currently working to resolve the Instagram dispute.
In response to questions regarding the case, the EDPB stated;
The EDPB has received a formal submission with regard to Instagram, which is the first step in the triggering of the dispute resolution mechanism. We are currently assessing the completeness of the file.
In response to queries regarding the Instagram investigation, Facebook stated;
We continue to cooperate with the DPC on all relevant matters.
Since taking on pan-European powers in 2018 to enforce the EU’s new privacy legislation, the proposed sanction from the Irish DPC is the first linked to breaches of children’s data rights in a cross-border investigation.
