The Data Protection Authority (DPA) of Norway has decreased Grindr’s penalties for illegally disclosing user data to marketers to 65 million Norwegian crowns ($7.14 million), citing the company’s efforts to remedy the issue.
The DPA had planned to punish Grindr with 100 million crowns in January, but it said on Wednesday that the sum had been decreased due to new financial information and adjustments Grindr had made “to fix the shortcomings in their former consent-management software.”
U.S.-based Grindr, which describes itself as the world’s largest social networking app for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people (LGBTQ+), said it still strongly disagreed with the decision.
“Our conclusion is that Grindr has disclosed user data to third parties for behavioral advertisement without a legal basis,” Tobias Judin, head of the DPA’s international department, said in a statement.
He said the agency, also known as Datatilsynet, concluded that user consent collected by Grindr between July 2018 and April 2020 for the use of private data was not valid.
The Data Protection Authority (DPA) of Norway has decreased Grindr’s penalties for illegally disclosing user data to marketers to 65 million Norwegian crowns ($7.14 million), citing the company’s efforts to remedy the issue.
The DPA had planned to punish Grindr with 100 million crowns in January, but it said on Wednesday that the sum had been decreased due to new financial information and adjustments Grindr had made “to fix the shortcomings in their former consent-management software.”
In a January 2020 investigation, the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) revealed Grindr shared sensitive user data with third parties interested in advertising and profiling. Users’ IP addresses, GPS locations, age, and gender were among the information collected.
When users are found and targeted in countries where homosexuality is banned, broad sharing of personal data can become an issue of physical safety, according to the NCC at the time.
