Meta to Appeal $400M GDPR Fine for Mishandling Teen Data in Instagram

Following an investigation that began in 2020, Ireland’s data privacy regulation agency will reportedly issue Meta a $400 million fine, for mishandling Instagram user data belonging to minors.

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) told Reuters the full decision on the Instagram data privacy fine will be released in a few days.

Reuters reported the DPC was looking into the ability of 13-to-17-year-old users to obtain business accounts, exposing their personal information in violation of GDPR data privacy rules. Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta has vowed to appeal, but has since put measures in place to protect under-age users’ data.

Last March, the DPC issued a €17 million (US$16.9 million) fine against Meta for noncompliance with GDPR regulations following a series of 12 data breaches.

Reuters added that the draft ruling against Instagram was shared with other European Union regulators, so there could be more fines coming.