Meta Fined for GDPR Violations: What the Latest $277M Penalty Means for Data Privacy

Meta has been fined $277 million by Irish regulators for GDPR violations (specifically Meta GDPR data leak). This latest Meta data privacy penalty highlights growing concerns around user data security in the EU.

The Meta GDPR data leak is just the latest in a growing list of privacy failures by the tech giant, raising questions about how much longer consumers will tolerate such lapses in oversight.

Another Major GDPR Fine for Meta

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is under fire again. Irish regulators have fined the company €265 million ($277 million USD) for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The penalty follows a high-profile investigation into a leak that exposed data from more than 533 million Facebook users.

This case centers around Meta’s failure to prevent unauthorized data scraping. The scraped information—later found on a hacker forum—included names, birthdates, phone numbers, emails, and other personal details from users in over 100 countries.

How Did This Happen?

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) found that Meta failed to implement sufficient technical and organizational safeguards, as required under GDPR. According to Meta, the breach exploited tools once used for friend-finding through phone numbers. While Meta claims it has since updated these features, regulators found those updates too little, too late.

In response, Meta stated:

“We made changes to our systems during the time in question, including removing the ability to scrape our features in this way using phone numbers.”

The fine also includes corrective measures—though the DPC has not disclosed the specifics.

A Pattern of Violations

This isn’t Meta’s first GDPR violation. Ireland’s DPC, which acts as Meta’s lead regulator in the EU, has issued multiple fines in recent years:

• Instagram (September 2022): Fined €405 million for mishandling teens’ personal data

• Facebook (March 2022): Fined €17 million for mishandling data breach reports

• WhatsApp (2021): Fined €225 million for unclear data-sharing practices

These repeated infractions suggest a systemic failure to respect user data rights—despite the growing expectations of GDPR enforcement.

For further details, read the full DPC statement.

Why It Matters

Fines like this underscore a broader issue: users still lack control over their own data. While the GDPR is a powerful regulatory tool, it often stops short of giving individuals real-time agency over how their data is handled.

Meta’s track record shows that even massive financial penalties may not be enough to enforce meaningful change.

How VALT Offers a New Solution

Instead of depending on large tech platforms to act responsibly, VALT puts you in charge. With VALT, your data never lives in a central repository vulnerable to leaks or exploitation. We secure your digital footprint from the start and let you decide when, how, and if it’s ever used.

In a world where tech giants face one privacy scandal after another, VALT offers an alternative—where transparency, consent, and user control are the default, not the exception.