The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined €405m ($433m) Meta- Owned Instagram after it found that the company had not "adequately safeguarded" children's data.
The investigation looked at complaints that all user accounts were set to public by default, including data for users under the age of 18. Also investigated were complaints that data from minors using business accounts, including contact information was publicly available.
Instagram claims the fine was based on old settings that have been updated, and says it has already released features to keep teenagers’ data protected, including setting all teen users’ accounts to private by default when they create an account.
“While we’ve engaged fully with the DPC throughout their inquiry, we disagree with how this fine was calculated and intend to appeal it. We’re continuing to carefully review the rest of the decision,” the company said.
Meta, who owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram has been plagued by fines in the last year. In March, they were fined 17 million euros by the same regulator after a data breach on Facebook was discovered, and last year WhatsApp was fined for privacy law violations.
To protect children’s privacy, the UK made changes to social networks when new legislation called the Children’s Code became law last year. These new regulations require much stricter protocols when it comes to collecting and processing children’s data. This new law has encouraged other countries to draft similar laws of their own.
California lawmakers have also drafted legislation for an age-appropriate design code, which was approved by the state Senate and could become law in 2024.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62800884
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/09/ireland-fines-instagram-e405-million-for-failing-to-protect-childrens-data/
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