Meta Could Face $100,000 Daily Fine in Norway for Privacy Vioaltions

Norway isn't pulling its punches against Meta's violations.

The country's privacy commission, Datatilsynet, has recently decided to fine Meta with a sanction of $100,000 daily if it doesn't fix its privacy issues in the country.

The Norwegian penalty follows a European court ruling banning Meta from harvesting user data for advertising, per Engadget.

Meta's Daily Fine

Datatilsynet stated in its announcement that the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (NDPA) is imposing a ban on Meta carrying out behavioral advertising based on the surveillance and profiling of Norwegian users.

According to privacy commission head Tobias Judin, the NDPA considers the practice of harvesting user data like location, behavior, and more through Facebook and Instagram for advertising as illegal and that it needs to immediately intervene. As such, it decided to ban Meta from doing its illegal activities for three months, starting from Aug. 4, or until Meta can show it can comply with Norwegian law.

The privacy commission stated that Meta affects Norwegians' freedom of expression and information in society when it decides what adverts people see on its social media platforms. It then creates a risk that Meta's behavioral advertising strengthens existing stereotypes or could lead to unfair discrimination of various groups; it could even affect election campaigns through political adverts - a particularly problematic action from a democratic perspective.

"As tracking is hidden from view, most people find it difficult to understand," Datatilsynet explained. "There are also many vulnerable people who use Facebook and Instagram that need extra protection, such as children, the elderly, and people with cognitive disabilities."

The privacy commission stresses that the ban doesn't prevent Meta from operating its social media platforms in Norway. It only wants Meta to stop its illegal user data harvesting or suffer the consequences of continuing it. It also doesn't stop Meta from targeting advertising based on information a user puts in their bio, such as place of residence, gender, and age, or based on interests users provided themselves.

The ban also doesn't stop Meta from showing behavioral advertising to consenting users.

Although the ban is only applicable in Norway, similar ones could spring up from other European countries in the EU, as Datatilsynet referred its actions to Europe's Data Protection Board. The ban, after all, follows a European court ruling banning Meta from harvesting sensitive user data like location and behavior for advertising, meaning that this referral can potentially make the fine permanent and widen its scope across Europe.

Meta's Response

Meta said it would review Datatilsynet's decision and that there would be no immediate impact on its services, per a Reuters report. A company spokesperson said that Meta would continue to engage with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), its lead regulator in the EU, regarding its compliance with Norway's ban on its data harvesting.

"The debate around legal bases has been ongoing for some time, and businesses continue to face a lack of regulatory certainty in this area," the spokesperson added.

Norway's ban isn't the only legal action Meta is facing in the EU over its data privacy actions. You may recall that the Irish DPC fined the social media giant a record-breaking $1.3 Billion for mishandling people's data when transferring it between the US and Europe. The DPC also ruled that Meta can't gather user data for behavioral advertising.