Facebook owner Meta is to appeal a Norwegian decision to fine the social media giant just under US$100,000 a day over alleged data privacy breaches, a source inside the company has claimed.
“We are appealing the [Norwegian Data Protection Agency’s]’s order,” the insider told Brussels Signal.
According to a report by Reuters, the fines are in relation to so-called “behavioural advertising” practices employed by Meta on its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. These practices involve users being given tailored ads based on their personal information, such as their location and user profile.
Norwegian data commissioner Datatilsynet ruled Meta’s implementation of the procedure was illegal last month and demanded that the American multinational prove it had ceased using behavioural advertising in Norway entirely by August 4.
The regulator now claims that Meta missed that deadline and so will be fined 1 million Norwegian Krone (about €89,000/$98,000) every day starting August 14.
That will continue until November 3 at the earliest, with Datatilsynet then having the option of asking the European Data Protection Board to extend the penalty.
If the Norwegian regulator opts for such a move, Reuters has speculated that could see the territorial scope of the decision extend across the European Economic Area, of which Norway is a member.
Before being handed the fine, Meta had insisted it was working to solve the violations, although under a timeframe that angered Norwegian regulators.
“According to Meta, this will take several months, at the very earliest, for them to implement,” said Datatilsynet international section head Tobias Judin.
Judin also expressed frustration at what he said was Meta’s vagueness regarding the solution being implemented.
“We don’t know what the consent mechanism will look like,” he said. “And in the [meantime], peoples’ rights are being violated, every single day.”
Norway’s case against the platform is reportedly based on an earlier enforcement order made by Ireland’s data regulation commissioner, which demanded that Meta rework how it utilises behavioural advertising after finding problematic legal issues in its current model.
