Meta’s Irish arm has initiated a second set of High Court proceedings over a record €405 million fine issued against Instagram by the Data Protection Commission (DPC).
Meta owns and operates Instagram and its Irish arm, Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, earlier this year lodged an appeal over the fine, the largest ever imposed by the DPC.
The fine was issued following an investigation into how Instagram handled and processed teenagers’ personal data.
Business accounts
The fine decision last March, made after a DPC inquiry that was initiated in September 2020, examined how users aged between 13 and 17 were allowed to operate business accounts on Instagram.
Shopping centres, apartments and logistics: the top commercial property deals of 2024
Buy now, pay later: Many don’t realise that buying clothes with services like Klarna is taking out a loan
Mixed figures on home completions and business will miss the Greens now they’re gone
Can my employer baldly state that its policy is different from whatever the employee handbook says?
The concerns included that Instagram’s process allowed, or required, children’s phone numbers and/or email addresses to be made public.
In a reaction to the DPC’s decision, Meta said it had engaged fully with the DPC inquiry which, it said, focused on old settings updated in early 2021. It said its appeal was brought for reasons including that it disputed how the fine was calculated.
This week, Meta filed a second set of proceedings seeking a judicial review of the DPC decision. The next step will involve the High Court deciding whether its grounds meet the “arguable case” threshold necessary for it to bring the proceedings.
