Norway has fined Microsoft’s advertising firm Xandr $9.6 million for mishandling and sharing Grindr user data for advertising.
The case dates to 2018–2020, when Xandr was involved in ads shown in Grindr, data shared in ad auctions could reveal sensitive user details, including sexual orientation.
Xandr said it believed Grindr had already got the necessary consent from users. Norwegian regulators disagreed, saying Xandr still had a responsibility to make sure the data could legally be processed.
The fine is the largest ever issued by Norway’s data protection authority.