### Meta Fined Over $100 Million by EU Privacy Regulator for Password Security Blunder

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been hit with a substantial fine surpassing $100 million by the European Union's privacy watchdog due to a significant security lapse involving user passwords. The Irish Data Protection Commission announced on Friday that it had imposed a 91 million euro ($101.6 million) penalty on the U.S. tech giant following a detailed investigation.

The investigation began in 2019 when Meta alerted the authorities that some Facebook user passwords had been mistakenly stored in plain text instead of being encrypted, which made them searchable by employees. Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle emphasized that storing user passwords in plain text is widely considered unacceptable due to the heightened risk of misuse.

Meta addressed the issue promptly, stating that the security review discovered that a subset of user passwords were "temporarily logged in a readable format." According to the company, there was no evidence that these passwords were either misused or improperly accessed. In their statement, Meta explained that they had proactively reported the issue to the Irish Data Protection Commission and had cooperated fully throughout the inquiry.

This fine is just the latest in a series of substantial penalties imposed on Meta and its social media platforms by the Dublin-based regulator. Other significant fines include a 405 million euro penalty for Instagram's mishandling of teen data, a 5.5 million euro fine associated with WhatsApp, and a whopping 1.2 billion euro penalty concerning transatlantic data transfers.

The string of fines underscores the EU's rigorous data privacy regulations, which aim to hold tech companies accountable for protecting user information. Meta’s series of missteps shows the increasing scrutiny and consequences companies face in upholding these privacy standards.