Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been fined €251 million by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) over a 2018 security breach.
The incident allowed hackers to compromise approximately 29 million Facebook accounts globally within a two-week span.
The breach exploited a vulnerability in the platform’s video upload feature, granting attackers full access to user profiles.
Sensitive information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and workplace details were exposed.
Meta identified and resolved the issue shortly after it occurred, notifying the DPC in September 2018.
However, the regulator criticized Meta for failing to implement stronger safeguards during the platform’s development process.
This penalty adds to a series of fines imposed on Meta and other tech giants as regulators worldwide continue to target data privacy lapses.
In September, the DPC fined Meta €91 million for delays in reporting another security issue and inadequate password protections.
