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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteMeta Platforms Ireland Limited was fined €91 million by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) after passwords from Facebook Lite users were inadvertently recorded in plaintext on internal systems. The regulator found failures in password security, breach notification and documentation. The DPC described potential risks including fraud and impersonation, but said the passwords were not made available to external parties; Meta said it had no evidence they were abused or accessed improperly.
What happened to the Facebook Lite passwords?
Code changes made in November and December 2018 caused some Facebook Lite passwords to be logged in plaintext on Meta internal systems. The DPC’s final decision describes two incidents, discovered on 7 January and 31 January 2019. Meta notified the DPC in March 2019, prompting the inquiry.
The regulator said the incidents involved tens of millions of users in the EU. That is the reported scale for these Facebook Lite incidents; it is not evidence that all 600 million Facebook passwords were affected, nor that every Meta service stored passwords this way.
Why did the DPC treat internal password logging as a breach?
Plaintext means a password is recorded in a readable form rather than being protected by a cryptographic transformation. Because the records were on internal systems, the incident did not require proof that an outsider had obtained them for the DPC to find a personal-data breach. The regulator concluded that each incident met the GDPR definition of a personal-data breach under Article 4(12).
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The DPC said Meta staff could access the plaintext passwords in a way that could have enabled accounts to be linked with their unencrypted passwords. It identified risks of fraud, impersonation, spamming, and possible financial or reputational loss. Its announcement said the passwords were not made available to external parties. Meta said, as reported by the Associated Press, “We took immediate action to fix this error, and there is no evidence that these passwords were abused or accessed improperly.” That statement describes the company’s position; it does not erase the security and reporting failures the regulator found.
Which GDPR duties did Meta fail to meet?
The DPC found three kinds of failure, covering both how the passwords were handled and how the incidents were managed:
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- Security: The DPC found that Meta had not implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures under Articles 5(1)(f) and 32(1).
- Notification: Meta failed to notify the DPC without undue delay and within 72 hours of discovering the 31 January incident, as required by Article 33(1).
- Documentation: Meta failed to document both breaches as required by Article 33(5).
The case therefore was not only about the initial logging mistake. GDPR exposure also followed from the company’s handling of the breaches after discovery.
How was the €91 million fine calculated?
The DPC adopted its final decision on 26 September 2024 and announced it on 27 September 2024. It imposed three fines and issued a reprimand:
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| GDPR provision | Failure identified by the DPC | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Article 33(1) | Failure to notify the DPC within the required time | €8 million |
| Article 33(5) | Failure to document both breaches | €8 million |
| Articles 5(1)(f) and 32(1) | Failure to implement appropriate security measures | €75 million |
| Total | Three fines; the DPC also issued a reprimand | €91 million |
The official penalty is €91 million. The Associated Press reported the amount as approximately $101.6 million, commonly rounded to $102 million. The dollar figure is a contemporaneous conversion, not the amount imposed by the Irish regulator.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the case mean for your account security?
The incident is a reminder that password safety depends not just on whether an account is breached from outside, but also on how companies handle credentials in internal systems and operational logs. For individuals, practical safeguards include using a unique password for each service and enabling multifactor authentication where available. If a service tells you to change a password after an incident, change it there and anywhere else you reused it.
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At an organizational level, secure handling means protecting password data cryptographically, sanitising logs so secrets are not captured, restricting access, and keeping incident records with timely escalation and notification. Those are general safeguards; they should not be read as a claim about specific corrective measures Meta took beyond its reported statement that it fixed the error.
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