Italy’s competition authority (ICA) commenced legal proceedings against Facebook, alleging the social media giant failed to comply with terms around data practices set in November 2018.

In a statement, the ICA said the non-compliance proceedings could result in a €5 million fine on the grounds Facebook failed to comply with guidelines related to improper commercial practices when employing user data.

The agency fined Facebook €5 million in November 2018, after finding the company was not adequately informing consumers about the collection and use of personal data for commercial purposes, and more generally “about the remunerative aims underlying the supply of the service, while at the same time emphasising that it is provided free of charge”.

ICA ruled Facebook had acted unfairly, inducing its users to make a transaction decision they would not have made otherwise.

In addition to the fine, the agency asked Facebook to stop the practice and publish an amending statement on the homepage of its website, the Facebook app and personal page of each Italian user.

However, ICA said while the company removed a tagline stating the service was free, consumers registering on the network “are still not adequately and immediately informed about the collection and use of their personal data for commercial purposes”.

“It also appears that Facebook did not publish the amending statement,” added ICA.

Facebook is no stranger to regulator probes, with the company coming under fire in recent years both at home in the US and in Europe over its data collection and privacy practices.