Norway bans data collection of citizens
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, breached the privacy of customers' data - Norway's data protection authority has ordered the company to pay a fine of $100,000 per day if it does not take remedial measures.
This move may affect other parts of Europe - said Reuters.
If Meta does not take action, the company will be fined by the regulator Datatilcinet on a daily basis from August 4 to November 3.
Big companies often use a customer's location and other personal information to send ads to that customer. This is known as behavioral advertising model. The regulatory body has instructed to stop this activity in the case of Norwegian citizens from now on.
“It is absolutely illegal, and so we have taken immediate action. Delay is not possible here.” - Tobias Judin, Head of International at Datatilcinet, told Reuters.
Meta said it will review Dataticinet's decision and that it will not affect its services.
Dataticinet has forwarded its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which, once approved, will make the penalty decision final and have ramifications for the rest of Europe.
"It will then put additional pressure on Meta." – added Judin.
Datatilcinet's move comes a day after the European Supreme Court ruled that Meta cannot collect customer data for use in behavioral advertising.
Matter's European headquarters are based in Ireland, and last December the company was ordered to stop such activities by the country's data regulator, the DPC.
Meta said it would continue "constructive discussions with DPC, the EU's top regulatory body on quality of service".
“The legal validity of this practice has been debated for some time. Those who are doing this business have been feeling the lack of a regulatory body in this regard for a long time.”
Although not a member of the European Union, Norway is part of the European Single Market.
