LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The data protection authorities of Norway informed Reuters on Monday that Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, will be fined 1 million crowns ($98,500) every day beginning on August 14 for privacy violations.
On 17 July, the company’s regulator, Datatilsynet, warned it would face fines if it did not fix privacy violations it had found.
Datatilsynet had claimed that Meta was unable to gather user information in Norway, including users’ geographical whereabouts, and use it to target them with behavioral advertising, a Big Tech-favored business model.
“As of next Monday, a daily fine of 1 million crowns will start to apply,” Tobias Judin, head of Datatilsynet’s international section, told Reuters.
The penalty is valid until 3 November. By sending it to the European Data Protection Board, which has the authority to do so if it concurs with the Norwegian regulator’s ruling, Datatilsynet can make its decision permanent.
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Additionally, it may extend the decision’s geographic reach to the rest of Europe. This stage hadn’t been completed by Datatilsynet.
Last week, Meta said that it will seek EU users’ permission before enabling companies to target advertisements based on what users view on its services, including Facebook and Instagram.
That measure, according to Judin, was insufficient. While waiting for such permission method to be operational, Meta was required to halt the processing of personal data.
As per Meta, they won’t implement this for some months, at the earliest. The consent mechanism’s design is also unknown, according to Judin.
People’s rights are being infringed on daily in the meantime, according to the statement.
The adjustment, according to Meta, was undertaken in response to regional regulatory requirements and was mandated in January by Meta’s primary EU regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, who also asked Meta to reevaluate the legal foundation for its ad targeting practices.
Although Norway is not a member of the EU, it is a part of the single European market.