Meta will pay Norway a daily fine for illegal collection of user data

Norwegian Data Protection Authority Datatilsynet obliged Meta* to pay $100,000 per day for privacy violations if the company continues to collect user data.

Regulator Datatilsynet said it would charge the fine daily from August 4 to November 3 if Meta does not prove that the collection of data is in accordance with the law. In total, daily fines can reach up to $10 million.

This decision is due to the fact that Meta collects users’ physical location data in Norway and uses it for targeted advertising. It is called “behavioral advertising“and is a business model specific to corporations big tech.

A spokesperson for Datatilsynet argues that such data collection is illegal and ordered Meta to stop collecting data before the penalties begin. Meta said it would look into Datatilsynet’s decision and that the decree would not have an immediate impact on the company’s services.

Datatilsynet has submitted its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which may make the penalty permanent and expand the territorial scope of the decision in Europe. Norway is not a member of the European Union, but is part of the European single market, meaning the move could have wider implications for Europe.

* The Meta company and its products (Instagram and Facebook) are recognized as extremist, their activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.