Norway’s data protection regulator said that Facebook owner Meta Platforms will be penalised 1 million crowns ($98,500) each day for privacy violations as from August 14.
“As of next Monday, a daily fine of 1 million crown will start to apply,” head of Datatilsynet’s international section, Tobias Judin, told Reuters.
On July 17, the company’s regulator, Datatilsynet, warned that if it didn’t fix the privacy violations it had found, it risked a fine.
Datatilsynet had said that Meta could not collect user information in Norway, such as users’ actual whereabouts, and use it to target them with behavioural advertising, a Big Tech-favored business model.
It had until August 4 to show the regulator that the problem had been resolved.
The penalty is valid until November 3. If Datatilsynet concurs with the judgement of the Norwegian regulator, it may make it permanent by sending it to the European Data Protection Board, which has the authority to do so.
Additionally, it might extend the decision’s geographic reach to the rest of Europe.
Last week, Meta announced that it would seek EU users’ permission before allowing companies to target advertisements based on what users view on its services, like Facebook and Instagram.
The modification, according to Meta, was made in response to regional regulatory requirements and was mandated in January by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, who serves as Meta’s main EU regulator, to reevaluate the legal foundation for how it targets advertisements.
