The Danish Data Protection Authority also confirmed that it had submitted a claim of NOK 82 million against Meta to the State’s collection center.

This summer, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority announced that it would impose a daily fine on Meta of one million kroner for violations of the Personal Data Act. The technology giant that owns Facebook and Instagram sued the authorities and lost in Oslo district court.

Meta sued the inspectorate again in October. This lawsuit has now been withdrawn, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority confirmed to NRK.

– This week we were told that Meta wanted to withdraw the case, but without them dropping the charges. This means they can file the case at any time. They have not released their claims against the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, said director Line Coll of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.

At the same time, Coll confirmed that they had contacted the Norwegian Government’s collection center regarding daily fines. The amount requested by the authorities is NOK 82 million.

– We really feel that people support us. We were stopped on the street, and people thought it would be great if we showed off our muscles. However, this has been requested by many users who asked us the question: ‘why are no supervisory authorities taking action against large American technology companies’. “We did it this summer,” Coll said.

Winning forward in the EU

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority’s decision from this summer was extended to apply to the entire EEA by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in October. The Council is the association of European data controllers and is a way to coordinate the enforcement of privacy regulations.

The crux of the case concerns what Meta needs to do in order to use the collected data for marketing. In November, the company launched ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. Meta believes this resolves the objections of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and the Norwegian Privacy Board.

NRK has been in contact with Meta. A spokesperson for the company stated that it had withdrawn the lawsuit, but its words should be understood in light of Norwegian procedural rules. The company believes it is more appropriate to say that their appeal case is on hold pending their appeal against the Privacy Council being processed by a court in the EU.

His spokesperson also stated that Meta intends to pay the fine.

The central government collection center will only respond to NRK in general.
– The state collection center is part of the Swedish Tax Agency, and is among other things responsible for collecting mandatory fines and infringement fees on behalf of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. Claims we receive for collection will be billed and collected forcefully if necessary, wrote section manager Stian Solheim at the Swedish Tax Agency.