A fine of 1 million crowns ($98,500) will be imposed on the owner of Facebook, Meta Platforms, by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) starting August 14 due to a privacy breach that occurred before that date. A significant penalty of this magnitude could have major implications for other countries in Europe as well since it may set a precedent.
In a court filing, Meta Platforms has requested that a court in Norway stay a fine imposed by the Nordic country's information regulator on the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. It argued that the company breached users' privacy via Facebook and Instagram.
It appears that Meta Platforms has filed a court filing requesting a temporary injunction against the order to prevent execution. During a two-day hearing to be held on August 22, the petition will be presented by the company. Media inquiries should be directed to Meta company's Norwegian lawyer, according to company's Norwegian lawyer. An inquiry for comment was not responded to by Meta Platforms.
According to Datatilsynet, Meta Platforms have been instructed not to collect any personal data related to users in Norway, including their physical locations as part of behavioral advertising, i.e. advertising that is targeted at specific user groups.
Big Tech companies tend to do this type of thing a lot.
Tobias Judin, Head of Datatilsynet's international section, said that the company will be fined 1 million crowns per day as of next Monday if the company does not comply with the court order.
Meta Platforms have filed a court protest against the imposition of the fine, according to Norway's data regulator, Datatilsynet. Datatilsynet will be able to make the fine permanent by referring the decision to the European Data Protection Board, which also holds the authority to endorse the Norwegian regulator's decision, after which the fine will be effective until November 3 at which point it could be made permanent by the Norwegian regulator.
Successful adoption of this decision would have an impact on the entire European region if it were to be approved. Currently, Datatilsynet has not taken any further steps in implementing these measures.
In a recent announcement, Meta announced that it intends to seek consent from users in the European Union before allowing businesses to use targeted advertisements based on how they interact with Meta's services like Instagram and Facebook.
Judin pointed out that Meta's proposed method of seeking consent from users was insufficient and that such a step would not be wise. As a result, he required Meta to immediately cease all data processing, and not to resume it until a fully functional consent mechanism had been established.
There is a violation of people's rights with the implementation of Monday, even though many people are unaware of this violation.
A Meta spokesperson explained that the decision to modify their approach was prompted by regulatory obligations in the European region, which came as a result of an order issued in January by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner regarding EU-wide data protection regulations.
According to the Irish authority, which acts as Meta's primary regulator within the European Union, the company is now required to review the legal basis of the methods that it uses to target customers with advertisements.
While Norway may not be a member of the European Union, it remains a member of the European Single Market, even though it is not a member of the EU.
