Ireland Fines Meta €265M For ‘Data Scraping’ Leak

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined Meta €265 million for a data scraping leak that exposed the personal information of EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and dozens of other EU officials.

As a result of Meta's inadequate data security, Ireland's privacy authorities stated Monday that it will fine the company €265 million and take other corrective measures against it.

The penalty relates to a data breach found in 2021. A 533 million record leak that surfaced on a public forum and spread widely online included the personal information of EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and dozens of other EU officials. This leak also included phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, and birthdates.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which regulates Meta because it has its European headquarters there, claimed the American tech giant had violated the General Data Protection Regulati...

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