Ireland Imposes a Record $400 Million Fine on Instagram for Using Children’s Data

Ireland’s data privacy watchdog will fine Instagram $405 million for processing children’s data

Dublin: A spokesman for Ireland’s data privacy watchdog said it had agreed to impose a record 405 million euros ($402 million) fine on the social network Instagram after an investigation into its handling of children’s data.

A spokesperson for parent company Meta Platforms Inc said in an emailed statement that Instagram plans to appeal the fine.

The survey, which began in 2020, focused on child users aged 13-17 who were allowed to operate business accounts, helping to publish users’ phone numbers and/or email addresses.

A spokesperson for the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), the lead regulator of parent company Meta Platforms Inc., said: To Instagram: “We made the final decision last Friday, which includes a fine of 405 million euros.”

He said full details of the decision would be announced next week.

A Meta spokesperson said Instagram updated its settings over a year ago and has since released new features to keep teens safe and messages private.

The spokesperson said Instagram did not agree with how the fine was calculated and that it was carefully reviewing the decision.

DPC regulates Facebook, Apple, Google, and other tech giants because their headquarters in the European Union are located in Ireland. It launched more than a dozen investigations into Meta companies, including Facebook and WhatsApp.

WhatsApp was fined 225 million euros last year for failing to comply with EU databases in 2018.

Irish regulators finalized a draft ruling on the Instagram investigation in December and shared it with other European Union regulators under the European Union’s “one-stop shop” system to oversee large multinational companies.

(1 US dollar = 1.0082 Euro)

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