Meta (META), the social media giant, is in hot water again. The company has been slapped with a hefty €91 million ($101.5 million) fine by the European Union’s privacy regulator for accidentally storing hundreds of millions of users’ passwords in plaintext. This mistake dates back to 2019, when Meta revealed it had inadvertently left these sensitive passwords unprotected on its internal systems.
Password Storage Blunder Leads to Significant Penalty
According to the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which oversees most U.S. internet firms operating in Europe, this breach violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The DPC stated, “It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plaintext, considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data.” While Meta assured that no external parties accessed these passwords, the lack of encryption raised serious concerns about user security.
This isn’t the first time Meta has found itself in trouble with regulators. The DPC has fined the company a staggering total of €2.5 billion for various GDPR breaches since the regulations were implemented in 2018, including a record €1.2 billion fine last year, which Meta is currently appealing.
Is Meta Stock a Good Buy?
Analysts remain bullish about META stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 41 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell. Over the past year, META has surged by more than 90%, and the average META price target of $597.38 implies an upside potential of 4.93% from current levels.
