Europe is becoming an increasingly challenging and costly place for Facebook's parent company, Meta. In May, it was hit with a $1.3 billion fine for violating privacy laws. Two weeks ago, the European Union's (EU) highest court ruled that Meta must obtain user consent for behavioural ad targeting. Now, Norway has ordered Meta to stop collecting and using personal data without user consent, and warned it could face a daily fine of up to $100,000 if it fails to comply.
The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) cited both the previous fine and court ruling as the reason for its actions. It said that unless action is taken, data protection rights of Norwegian citizens would be violated indefinitely.
Despite the court ruling, Facebook and Instagram still gather data and target ads in the EU. Meta has yet to comment on how it will respond, but it stated that there is no immediate impact to its services.
The EU and nations such as Norway are putting an end to this type of data collection and use, which has been a lucrative source of income for many tech companies. This means marketers will need to find new ways of getting their ads in front of the right audience, which may be expensive and beyond the reach of some businesses.
As a result, Meta has not launched Threads in Europe, due to privacy regulations. Companies must comply with GDPR or forego the massive European consumer market.
Originally reported by Martech: https://martech.org/norway-orders-meta-to-stop-collecting-and-using-personal-data/
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