Instagram faces a million dollar fine for not protecting minors’ data

(Reuters) –– Ireland’s data privacy regulator has agreed to impose a record fine of 405 million euros (about $402 million) against the social network Instagram, after an investigation into its management data of minorsreported a spokesman for the watchdog.

Instagram plans to appeal the fine, a spokesperson for its parent company said. Goalin a statement sent by email.

The investigation, which began in 2020, focused on users aged 13 to 17 who were allowed to operate business accounts. This made it easy for the user’s phone number and/or email address to be published.

“We made our final decision last Friday and it contains a fine of €405 million,” said a spokesman for the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), the main regulator of Instagram and its parent company. Facebook.

Full details of the decision will be published next week, it added.

Instagram responds that it has updated functions

Instagram updated its settings more than a year ago and has since rolled out new features to keep teens safe and their information stays protected, the Meta spokesperson said.

He also mentioned that Instagram disagrees with the way the fine was calculated and is carefully reviewing the decision.

The DPC regulates Facebook, Apple, Google and other tech giants because their European Union headquarters are in Ireland. The body has opened more than a dozen investigations into Meta companies, including Facebook and WhatsApp.

WhatsApp was fined a record €225 million last year for failing to comply with European Union data rules in 2018.

In December, the DPC completed a draft of its Instagram investigation ruling and shared it with other European Union regulators under the bloc’s system for reining in big multinationals.