Would you like to receive notifications on latest updates of the following headlines?

EU data privacy breach: Irish regulator slaps €91m fine on Meta

POSTED ON September 27, 2024 •   World      BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara
Meta

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy said Friday it had fined Facebook-owner Meta 91 million euros ($102 million) for password-security breaches.

The Data Protection Commission criticised Meta for failing to put in place appropriate security measures to protect users’ password data and for taking too long to alert the regulator over the issue.

An inquiry was launched in April 2019 after Meta Ireland informed the regulator that it had “inadvertently stored certain passwords of social media users” in a readable format on its internal system, the DPC said in a statement.

“It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plaintext, considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data,” said Graham Doyle, the regulator’s head of communications.

Doyle told AFP that the breach, which took place in January 2019, affected 36 million Facebook and Instagram users across the European Economic Area, which comprises the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

The regulator criticised Meta for not alerting the DPC of the problem until March 2019.

In a statement to AFP, Meta acknowledged that some Facebook users’ passwords were “temporarily stored in a readable format in our internal data systems”.

“We took immediate action to fix this error, and there is no evidence that these passwords were abused or accessed improperly.

“We proactively flagged this issue to our lead regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission, and have engaged constructively with them throughout this inquiry”, a Meta spokesperson added.

AFP

READ ALSO
JUST IN : Vatican appoint New Pope
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

The Vatican has appointed Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, marking him as the 267th leader o...

READ ALSO
EU Unveils Plan to Eliminate Russian Gas Imports by 2027
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

The EU introduced a long-awaited initiative to eliminate its remaining gas imports from Russia by th...

READ ALSO
ECOWAS Leaders Call for Action against High Airfares to Boost Regional Integration
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 7, 2025 0

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Mémounatou Ibrahima and other stakeholders have decried the...

READ ALSO
A armed man shoot dead outside Hendricks County Courthouse
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 5, 2025 0

An armed man was shot and killed outside the Hendricks County Courthouse on Monday afternoon, prompt...

READ ALSO
Potential successors to Pope Francis as conclave approaches
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 5, 2025 0

Without any formal campaigning or official candidate list, the election process remains largely opaq...

READ ALSO
ECOWAS leaders appeal to Sahel states to reconsider withdrawal
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 2, 2025 0

Members of the ECOWAS Parliament have urged Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger (Sahel States) to reconsid...

READ ALSO
Saudi unveil customs regulations ahead of hajj pilgrimage
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 1, 2025 0

As the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage approaches, authorities in Saudi Arabia have outlined Customs...

READ ALSO
Pope Francis to be buried April 26
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 23, 2025 0

Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced Tuesday, as world leade...

OUR CHANNELS:

Senate Approves Key Tax Reforms, Retains VAT at 7.5%
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

Eight months after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented four tax reform bills to the National Assem...


EU Unveils Plan to Eliminate Russian Gas Imports by 2027
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

The EU introduced a long-awaited initiative to eliminate its remaining gas imports from Russia by th...


Police present human parts as evidence in Kwara student’s murder
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

KWARA, Nigeria - The trial of Abdulrahman Bello and his alleged accomplices in the suspected ritual...


Edo Speaker Defects to APC, Cites Constituency Development as Key Reason
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

EDO, Nigeria - The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, has provi...


124,408 Terrorists Surrender as Nigeria Strengthens National Security
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - Minister of Defence Abubakar Badaru stated on Wednesday that President Bola Ahmed T...


LASG Issues 8,856 Planning Permits to Enhance Building Safety
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

LAGOS, Nigeria - The Lagos State Government has announced that it granted 8,856 planning permits ove...


Shettima Unveils $158m Agricultural Initiative to Combat Poverty
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - The federal government On Wednesday, signed a financing agreement for the Value Cha...


FG Launches Initiative to Boost Economy Through Phytomedicine
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

The Federal Government has introduced a strategic initiative focused on diversifying the economy and...


JUST IN: EFCC Release VDM on Bail
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 8, 2025 0

Human rights advocate Martins Otse, commonly referred to as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has been released fro...


PSG Advances to Face Inter Milan in Final, trash Arsenal 3-1 in Semi Final
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 9, 2025 0

English football club, Arsenal, bid to reach the Champions League final ended in failure after they...


More Articles

Load more...

Menu