Meta's practice of tracking Instagram and Facebook users violates their privacy, Norway's data protection regulator said in a press release today. If the company doesn't take remedial action, it will be fined one million crowns ($100,000) per day from August 4th until November 3rd. "It is so clear that this is illegal that we need to intervene now and immediately," said Tobias Judin, head of Norway's privacy commission, Datatilsynet.
The move follows a European court ruling banning Meta from harvesting user data like location, behavior and more for advertising. Datatilsynet has referred its actions to Europe's Data Protection Board, which could widen the fine across Europe. The aim is to put "additional pressure" on Meta, Judin said. (Norway is a member of the European single market, but not technically an EU member.)