High Court - 2016 IEHC 323
Meta fined €1.2M by Ireland's DPC for GDPR violations related to data access requests.
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL) has been fined €1.2 million by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) for failing to comply with GDPR access and portability requests. The DPC found that MPIL, formerly Facebook Ireland Limited, did not provide a data subject with all the personal data requested from its internal 'Hive' data warehouse, citing computational infeasibility. The DPC's inquiry concluded that MPIL failed to meet its obligations under Articles 15 and 20 of the GDPR.
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The lesson from this incident
Full lessonMeta Platforms Ireland Limited failed to fulfill its legal obligations under GDPR Articles 15 (right of access) and 20 (right to data portability) by not providing a data subject with all personal data held in its internal 'Hive' data warehouse, citing computational infeasibility as justification. This case illustrates that technical complexity or internal architectural limitations are not acceptable excuses for non-compliance with data subject rights. Organizations must design their data infrastructure with regulatory obligations in mind, ensuring that personal data can be located, retrieved, and delivered regardless of where it resides. The €1.2 million fine underscores that regulators will hold large platforms accountable for systemic failures to honor individual rights, not just data breaches.
What helps against this
How we list vendors- Identity governance and single sign-on
People who leave or change roles lose access everywhere at once, and forgotten accounts stop piling up.
- Data loss prevention (DLP)
Sensitive data cannot quietly leave by email, upload, USB stick or AI tool.