Meta privacy violations, fines and verdicts

Fines, settlements and verdicts over how Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp collected and shared people’s personal data.

23 entries: 5 settled, 1 admitted, 5 reported, 7 ruled, under appeal, 5 ruled.

1. Nov 2007Beacon broadcasts what people buy$9.5MSettled
2. Dec 2009Private settings made public without warning20 yearsSettled
3. Jan 2012A secret experiment on people’s moods689,003Admitted
4. Oct 2012Two gay students outed to their familiesReported
5. Mar 2018Cambridge Analytica$5.8BSettled
6. Sep 2018“View As” breach exposes 29 million accounts€251MRuled, under appeal
7. Jan 2019Teenagers paid for access to their phones$20Reported
8. Feb 2021Illinois users win $650 million over face scans$650MSettled
9. Apr 2021533 million users’ phone numbers posted online€265MRuled, under appeal
10. Sep 2021WhatsApp fined over how it explained data sharing€225MRuled
11. Jun 2022Private messages used in an abortion prosecutionReported
12. Jun 2022Tracking code on hospital websites33 of 100Reported
13. Sep 2022Instagram exposed teenagers’ contact details€405MRuled, under appeal
14. Jan 2023Fined for forcing users into personalized ads€390MRuled, under appeal
15. May 2023Record GDPR fine over data transfers to the US€1.2BRuled, under appeal
16. Jul 2024Texas wins $1.4 billion over face scans$1.4BSettled
17. Jul 2024Nigeria fines Meta and WhatsApp $220 million$220MRuled
18. Nov 2024Religion and sexuality turned into ad categories₩21.6BRuled
19. Nov 2024India penalizes WhatsApp’s take-it-or-leave-it policy₹213 croreRuled, under appeal
20. Apr 2025“Pay or consent” breaks Europe’s digital markets law€200MRuled, under appeal
21. Jun 2025Hidden tracking tied private browsing to accounts5.8M+Reported
22. Aug 2025Jury finds Meta eavesdropped on period-tracker usersRuled
23. Sep 2026A second jury finds 43.9 million deceptions43.9MRuled