In Norwegian data privacy case, Grindr fines reduced to 7 million US dollars

In this illustration of a photo taken on March 28, 2019 in Shanghai, China, the Grindr app can be seen on a mobile phone. REUTERS/Aly Song/Illustration/File Photo

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Oslo, December 15 (Reuters)-The Norwegian Data Protection Agency (DPA) has fined the dating app Grindr 65 million Norwegian kroner ($7.14 million) for illegally disclosing user data to advertisers , And stated that the company has taken action to resolve issues related to it. practice.

DPA Initial planning In January last year, Grindr was fined 100 million kronor, but it said on Wednesday that it had reduced the amount due to new information about the company’s finances and the changes Grindr made to “compensate for deficiencies in its previously agreed management platform.”

The US-based Grindr describes itself as the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) social networking application, and it still strongly disagrees with this decision.

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“Our conclusion is that Grindr disclosed user data to third parties for behavioral advertising without a legal basis,” Tobias Judin, head of DPA’s international department, said in a statement.

He said that the agency (also known as Datatilsynet) concluded that Grindr’s user consent for the use of private data collected between July 2018 and April 2020 was invalid.

Shane Wiley, Grindr’s chief privacy officer, said in a statement: “We strongly oppose Datatilsynet’s reasoning, which involves historical consent practices many years ago, not our current consent practices or privacy policies.”

Grindr said it is considering appealing the decision.

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets guidelines for the collection, processing and sharing of personal information in the EU and non-EU Norway.

The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) regulator stated in a January 2020 report that Grindr shared detailed user data with third parties involved in advertising and analysis. This data includes detailed information such as the user’s IP address, GPS location, age, and gender.

NCC stated at the time that, in some cases, if users are located in countries where homosexuality is illegal, extensive sharing of personal data may become a personal safety issue.

(1 USD = 9.1083 Norwegian Krone)

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Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely

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