As you might remember from our August newsletter, Norwegian data protection regulator — Datatilsynet — announced a “temporary ban” on Facebook and Instagram behavioural advertising in July.
Datatilsynet found that Facebook & Instagram’s practices were illegal because they didn’t have adequate consent. A ban was therefore set to last for three months or until Meta complies with the law.
Not surprisingly, Meta asked the Norwegian Court to suspend the decision — arguing that Datatilsynet did not have legal grounds for its urgent decision and it should be invalidated due to a lack of advance notice.
On 6 September, Oslo District Court sided with Datatilsynet. They ruled that Meta has to pay a daily fine of NOK 1 Million (approx. €87,000) for not complying with the temporary ban issued by Datatilsynet. The ruling confirms the ban’s daily fine became applicable on 4 August and continues to add up.
To add to that, Datatilsynet says it may take the matter to the European Data Protection Board, the top panel of privacy regulators. This could extend the ban and lead to wider implications across the EU.
So it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.
Meta has been under fire over data privacy for some time. In May, the Irish privacy regulator hit Meta with a record $1.3 billion fine and ordered it to stop transferring EU users’ personal data to the U.S. Also, Meta's new text-based app, Threads, has not rolled out in the EU due to regulatory concerns.
Even with the new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in place, stricter privacy rules in the EU is still a headache for the tech giants and it doesn’t seem to go away. On the contrary.
But what will that mean for you if you’re not a tech giant? Well, if you’re in Norway and (if the ban expands), - anywhere in the EU - and using Meta for ads, it might be a good time to start exploring the alternatives :)
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