Italian regulators have fined Meta 805 million euros (670 million pounds, or 887 million dollars) for accessing the photos of Android users without their specific consent.
Italy's Data Protection Authority said the social media giant failed to properly inform roughly 20 million smartphone users that it could reach their photos and videos through a feature built into the Facebook app.
The feature in question suggests photos and videos stored in a user's phone gallery as ideas for posts. According to the regulator, Facebook obtained access to users' galleries through a single app-wide authorisation, and an earlier notice did not make clear that this permission would also let Facebook generate suggestions based on the images stored on the device.
The authority has ordered Meta to disable the feature by default within 60 days and to request users' consent separately.
The penalty ranks among the largest ever imposed on a technology company by an Italian authority.
Explaining the size of the fine, the regulator pointed to "the high number of people affected" and noted that the practice is "still ongoing for those who have not updated the app and for those who have already given their consent to the system".
It also cited what it described as Meta's lack of co-operation during the process.
The BBC has contacted Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, for comment on the decision.
The Italian fine comes only a month after Meta received the largest penalty in its history over its business practices. A US judge in New Mexico ordered the company to pay 25 billion dollars (18.6 billion pounds) after finding that it had spent years misleading the public about how it handled Facebook user data.
