Norwegian justice on Monday confirmed a record fine of 65 million crowns (5.7 million euros) imposed on the dating application Grindr for illegal sharing of sensitive data.
In 2021, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) fined Grindr, which presents itself as “the world’s largest dating network for gay, bi, trans and queer people”, accusing it of having provided its users’ data to third parties for targeted marketing between July 2018 and April 2020.
The group was notably singled out for having shared with advertisers the GPS coordinates, elements of the profile of its users (age, gender, etc.) and the very fact that they use the app, thus giving indications on their preferences sexual.
For Datatilsynet, the absence of clear information given to users about this practice and explicit approval on this point on their part violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implemented in the European Union in May 2018 .
Defeated in a conciliation proceeding in 2023, Grindr decided to take the Norwegian state to court.
The Oslo court ruled in favor of the state on Monday.
It concluded that requests for consent from users regarding the sharing of their data did not comply with GDPR requirements and stressed that the data in question was “sensitive”, relating to sexual orientation.
Grindr spokeswoman Kelly Miranda expressed disappointment to Norwegian media, stressing that these were long-standing practices, and said the group was considering appealing.
published on July 1 at 9:11 p.m., AFP
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