Facebook Parent Meta Seeks to Stop Privacy Breach Fine in Norway Court: Details

Since August 14, Meta Platforms has been fined $94,313 (roughly Rs. 78 lakh) per day for harvesting users' data and using it to target advertising at them.

By Reuters | Updated: 22 August 2023 10:39 IST

Facebook Parent Meta Seeks to Stop Privacy Breach Fine in Norway Court: Details

Photo Credit: Reuters

Since August 14, Meta has been fined 1 million crowns ($94,313) per day for harvesting users' data

Highlights

Meta used users' data to target advertising at them
Meta called it a behavioural advertising
Meta Platforms is asking for a temporary injunction against the order

Meta Platforms will ask a court in Norway on Tuesday to stop a fine the country's data regulator has imposed on the owner of Facebook and Instagram for breaching users' privacy, in a case that could have wider European implications.

Since August 14, Meta Platforms has been fined 1 million crowns ($94,313) per day for harvesting users' data and using it to target advertising at them, called behavioural advertising, a business model common to Big Tech.

Meta Platforms is asking for a temporary injunction against the order, which imposes a daily fine through to November 3.

Meta Expected to Roll Out Web Version for Threads by This Week: Report

Meta said on August 1 it intended to ask consent from users in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA), the European single market, before allowing behavioural advertising.

"We have already announced our intention to transition to the legal basis of Consent for personalised advertising for people in the EU and EEA," Meta said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Regulator, Datatilsynet, will defend the fine in court. It said that it was unclear when, and how, Meta would seek consent from users and that, in the meantime, their rights were being violated.

PayPal USD Expected to Do Better Than Facebook's Libra in Stablecoin Market

"Datatilsynet will argue that there is no basis for an injunction," Tobias Judin, the regulator's head of international section, told Reuters.

Datatilsynet could make the fine permanent by referring its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which has the power to do so if it agrees with the Norwegian regulator's decision.

That could also widen the decision's territorial scope to the rest of Europe. Datatilsynet had yet to take this step.

WhatsApp for Desktop May Soon Get New Text Formatting Tools: Report

The hearing at the Oslo district court will last two days.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.