EU Slaps Meta with €251M Fine over Data Breach

The European Union's data privacy regulator has fined Meta 251 million euros for a data breach affecting 29 million Facebook accounts globally. The breach was reported to Ireland's Data Protection Commission six years ago, impacting 3 million EU accounts, and has since been remedied by Meta.

The European Union's foremost data privacy authority has imposed a substantial fine of 251 million euros on Meta, the parent company of Facebook. This decision follows two separate investigations into a personal data breach.

The investigation was initiated six years ago when Meta reported a data breach to Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC). This breach affected approximately 29 million Facebook accounts worldwide, including around 3 million based within the European Union.

Meta addressed and rectified the breach shortly after it was discovered, according to the DPC. At current exchange rates, one dollar is equivalent to 0.9527 euros.

(With inputs from agencies.)