Tech
EU hits Meta with $102 mn privacy fine over 2019 password security lapse
Meta was punished Friday with a fine worth more than USD 100 million from the social media giant’s European Union privacy regulator over a security lapse involving passwords for Facebook users.
The Irish Data Protection Commission said it slapped the US tech company with the 91 million euro (USD 101.6 million) penalty following an investigation.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The watchdog started investigating in 2019 after it was notified by Meta that some passwords had been inadvertently stored internally in plain text, which means they weren’t encrypted and it was possible for employees to search for them.
Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said it’s widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plain text, “considering the risks of abuse.
Meta said a security review found that a subset of Facebook users’ passwords were temporarily logged in a readable format.
We took immediate action to fix this error, and there is no evidence that these passwords were abused or accessed improperly, the company said in a statement. “We proactively flagged this issue to our lead regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission, and have engaged constructively with them throughout this inquiry.
It’s the latest in a series of hefty fines for Meta and its social media platforms from the Dublin-based watchdog, which is the company’s lead regulator under the 27-nation EU’s stringent data privacy rulebook. They include a 405 million euro fine for Instagram over mishandling teen data, a 5.5 million euro penalty involving WhatsApp and a 1.2 billion euro fine for Meta over transatlantic data transfers.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Sep 27 2024 | 7:02 PM IST
The group behind a new European soccer competition has resurfaced. Here’s what they propose – WTOP News
Report Highlights Fiction Downturn in Europe – WORLD SCREEN
Space exploration: A key industry for Europe’s future
Champions Cup: Ex-Springboks skipper dismisses travel concerns and diagnoses real ‘issue’ with South African sides in Europe
Penta Infra shapes European growth plans with new shareholder
Alstom and OnTrain Unite for Multinational Rail Expansion Across Europe – Travel And Tour World
How UK inflation compares to Europe and the rest of the world
Taiwan Shines as a Prime Destination For French Tourists, According To New Travel Data From Skyscanner And Expedia – Travel And Tour World
This Airlines Connects Kuusamo, Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo with New Flight Routes to Lapland: New Update for Tourists Travelling to North Europe – Travel And Tour World
.jpeg?tr=w-1200%2Cfo-auto "Heathrow announces £2.3bn infrastructure investment")