Norway fines Microsoft's Xandr $9.6 million over Grindr data sharing
FREE Breaking News Alerts from StreetInsider.com!
StreetInsider.com Top Tickers, 10/12/2026
- US stock futures steady as oil jumps to two-week high ahead of key earnings
- Oil prices fluctuate on Trump's Russian diesel comments, attacks on Saudi
- Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders due to soft demand, Nikkei Asia reports
- UBS flags level in gold prices where dip buyers will likely emerge
- Telecom stocks tumble on SpaceX spectrum acquisition news
Tweet
Share
E-mail
Grindr app is seen on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in Shanghai, China March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/Illustration
Oct 12 (Reuters) - Norway's data protection authority has fined Microsoft's adtech unit Xandr 92 million crowns ($9.61 million) for unlawfully relaying Grindr users' sensitive data to thousands of advertisers, it said on Monday.
Xandr relayed data revealing the sexual orientation of users of Grindr, a dating app for LGBTQIA+ people, to companies in automated ad auctions from July 2018 to April 2020.
It is the biggest fine the Norwegian authority has issued, and targets the advertising middlemen rather than the app itself. The regulator said companies that traded in people's data could not pass the blame to others.
The data protection authority fined Grindr 65 million crowns over the same breaches in 2021.
The fine was based on Xandr's revenue, not Microsoft's, which did not own the unit at the time. Xandr has three weeks to appeal.
Xandr said it assumed Grindr had obtained users' consent and never checked, the data protection authority said. It rejected that argument and ruled Xandr shared legal responsibility with Grindr.
Microsoft said the privacy of users was a top priority.
"This investigation and decision focused on conduct that predates Microsoft's acquisition of Xandr, and in that time the interpretation and application of legal standards and practices has continued to evolve. We are reviewing the decision and assessing our options," it said.
The case began with a 2020 complaint by the Norwegian Consumer Council, whose research exposed how apps shared user data, and Austrian data privacy organisation noyb, which called the decision "a valuable precedent".
($1 = 9.5704 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Alison Williams)
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Czech intelligence chief says Russia could resort to riskier operations in NATO states
- EU eyes December trade initiatives after China car import deal
- Cuba denies involvement with island-bound fuel shipments seized by US
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
ReutersRelated Entities
Definitive AgreementSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
