Meta Platforms fined $277 million for failing to prevent the leak of personal data of more than half a billion Facebook users.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, the main privacy watchdog for Meta in the European Union, imposed the fine after an investigation found the social media company had failed to implement strict safeguards required by the General Data Protection Regulation Regulation or GDPR).
In addition to the fine – the third largest under the GDPR – the Data Protection Commission ordered Meta's Irish arm to ensure its processing complies with the law, according to an emailed statement on Monday.
The Irish authority is the lead watchdog for some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies that have set up EU branches in the country, including Meta.
The preference of large technology companies in Ireland is due to the country's very low tax rate,
It launched its investigation after revelations that "a trove of Facebook's personal data" had been published online. The personal information of 533 million Facebook users appeared on a hacking website last year, and included phone numbers and email addresses.
