Meta Platforms will ask a Norwegian court on Tuesday to halt fines the country’s data watchdog has imposed on the owners of Facebook and Instagram for violating user privacy, in a case that could have broader implications across Europe.
Meta Platforms has been fined 1 million crowns ($94,313) per day since Aug. 14 for collecting user data and using it to serve targeted ads to users, known as behavioral advertising, a business model common among big tech companies.
Meta Platforms is requesting a temporary injunction against the order, which will impose daily fines until November 3.
Meta said on Aug. 1 that it intends to seek consent from users in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA), the European single market, before allowing behavioral advertising.
“We have announced our intention to transition to a legal basis of consent for personalized advertising by people in the EU and EEA,” Mehta said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Regulator Datatilsynet will defend the fine in court. It said it was unclear when and how Meta sought users’ consent while their rights were being violated.
“Datatilsynet will argue that there is no basis for the ban,” Tobias Judin, head of the watchdog’s international division, told Reuters.
Datatilsynet can make the fine permanent by submitting its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which has the power to do so if it agrees with the Norwegian regulator’s decision.
It could also extend the territorial scope of the decision to other parts of Europe. Datatilsynet hasn’t taken that step yet.
The hearing at the Oslo District Court will last two days.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Svlook
