Meta hit with over $400M fine over ad targeting practices

CNBC reports that the Irish Data Protection Commission imposed a total fine of more than $400 million on Meta, parent company of Facebook, Wednesday after finding that the company's advertising and data handling practices violated the European Unions privacy laws. According to DPC, Meta should be fined 210 million euro ($222.5 million) for violating the General Data Protection Regulation and a further 180 million euro for Instagram's violations of the same regulation. The Irish privacy regulator ruled that Meta has three months to bring its data processing activities into compliance. In a statement, Meta said it intended to appeal the decision. Businesses can continue using its platforms to target people with adverts, and the decision does not equate to a prohibition on personalized advertising, it was added. That's why we strongly disagree with the DPCs final decision, and believe we fully comply with GDPR by relying on Contractual Necessity for behavioral ads given the nature of our services, a spokesperson told CNBC via email.