Meta Facing Hefty Financial Penalty for Failing to Resolve Privacy Issues in Norway
Norway’s data protection regulator, Datatilsynet, has stated in a press release today that Meta’s monitoring of Instagram and Facebook users infringes upon their privacy. Unless the company takes corrective measures, it will face a daily fine of one million crowns ($100,000) starting from August 4th until November 3rd. Tobias Judin, the head of Datatilsynet, emphasized the urgency of intervention, stating that the illegality of this practice is evident and immediate action is necessary.
The move follows a European court ruling that banned Meta from collecting user data such as location, behavior and other information for advertising purposes. Datatilsynet has transferred its measures to the European Data Protection Board, which may extend the fine across Europe. The goal is to put “additional pressure” on Metal, Judin said. (Norway is a member of the European Single Market, but not technically a member of the EU.)
Meta told Reuters that it is reviewing Datatilsynet’s decision and that the decision would not immediately affect its services. “We continue to engage constructively with the Irish DPC, our lead EU regulator, on compliance with its decision,” the spokesperson said. “The debate over legal bases has been ongoing for some time, and companies continue to face a lack of regulatory certainty in this area.”
Meta is under pressure across Europe for its data protection practices. Earlier this month, Ireland’s data regulator (DPC) ruled that Meta cannot collect user data for behavioral advertising. And as recently as May, it was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for transferring the data of EU users to its servers in the United States.
In addition, Meta’s new Twitter competitor Threads is not yet available in the European Union for data protection reasons. When Threads debuted, Meta said it “had not yet prepared the service for a European launch outside of the UK, which is not fully governed by GDPR or EU data protection rules.” Meta even goes so far as to block EU users from accessing the new social media site using a VPN.
