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Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

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Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#51

Post by vidarh »

detaro wrote: post #39
martin8412 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Norway the reason is fish. Since they're not in the EU, they don't have to allow others access to fish in their waters.

and agriculture (and agriculture subsidies).

This is a big one for Norway as food security has been a big strategic focus for Norway ever since the British naval blockade against Denmark-Norway during the Napoleonic wars, reaffirmed by the hardships during the Nazi occupation.

It's still largely politically untenable in Norway to oppose agriculture subsidies.

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#52

Post by mjw_byrne »

I was a little surprised by this: "The DPA highlighted that users should have a real choice not to consent without any negative consequences."

Does this mean that it is unacceptable to run a service which requires consent to share data? That seems overly restrictive - where does that leave services in which sharing data is the whole point of the service?

The article goes on to say: "Grindr made use of the app conditional on consenting to data sharing or to paying a subscription fee."

Is this the unacceptable part? I.e. Grindr is creating a financial penalty for users who exercise their data privacy rights?

Would it be acceptable under GDPR to run an app where the choice is "consent to sharing data or do not use this app at all"?

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#53

Post by vidarh »

thefounder wrote: post #13
that_guy_iain wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I meant benefit of EEA over EU membership.

They have some "special rights" on natural resources. i.e oil, fishery. I think the EU will close that loophole soon.

They can't "close that loophole". It's an integral part of the EEA treaty. If the EU withdraws from the EEA treaty it would virtually guarantee that support for EU membership in Norway would sink like a rock out of sheer anger. It would lead to Norway withdrawing further from the EU, not joining, so it'd be entirely counterproductive.

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#54

Post by vidarh »

gridder wrote: post #30
martin8412 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Norway the reason is fish. Since they're not in the EU, they don't have to allow others access to fish in their waters.

And can fish without any external limit. See the pilot whales hunt in the faroe islands: https://youtu.be/ws99HlPBySA

The Faroe islands are not Norwegian, and Norway does not allow hunt of pilot whales.

EDIT: That's not to say Norway doesn't still do whaling, but quotas are only for minke whales. Of a quota of 1278 for 2019, 429 where caught. But pilot whales explicitly still do not meet the conditions required (size of population etc.) for Norway to allow hunt.

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#55

Post by magicalhippo »

hamilyon2 wrote: post #42

I can't help but feel this not that simple. Wording in article is odd. If data sharing was conditioned on not paying for the app use, than this could be against what this forum usually stand for. I, too, will happily pay for my data being not used and seeing no ads. Wee need more details about this case.

Here is what the Norwegian Data Protection Authority says:

In the cases of Smaato, OpenX and AdColony, Grindr “only” transmitted a signal conveying the data subject’s “opt-out” preference. We understand that advertising partners could choose to ignore that signal. In any case, Grindr would have to rely on the action of others, either the user, the operating system, Grindr’s partners, or a combination of the aforementioned, to halt its sharing of data where so required. In consequence, Grindr failed to control and take responsibility for their own data sharing, and the “opt-out” mechanism is not necessarily effective.

Furthermore, for a consent to be “freely given”, accepting to the particular processing operation should be as easy as declining, and the choice should be intuitive and fair.

[1]: https://www.datatilsynet.no/en/news/2021/intention-to-issue-... ("Advance notification of an administrative fine")

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#56

Post by ChrisRR »

peteretep wrote: post #22
ganzuul wrote: post #19

Great news! They have been preying on a very vulnerable community.

Are gay men in Norway a very vulnerable community? My impression was no, but I’m willing to have that countered

I think gay men anywhere are a vulnerable community. You can live in the most progressive society in the world, but many people still don't want their sexuality to be common knowledge

It's no different to straight people's sex lives, I'm sure many people wouldn't want it to be common knowledge what they're into, and who they've slept with

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#57

Post by Dumbdo »

Lapland wrote: post #47
ffpip wrote: post #20

NYOB seems to be a great company. I have heard of their lawsuits against Apple, Facebook and now a large fine against Grindr. If anyone wants to help them - https://noyb.eu/en/support-us . (no affiliation)

Thanks for sharing, haven't heard about this organization before but happy to support them now.

It was founded by Max Schrems, whom some of you might now for his lawsuits against Facebook a few years back, which ended the EU-US Safe Harbour and Privacy Shield data trade agreements.

It's mainly EU-centric which might be the reason why people here haven't heard of it before.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schrems

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#58

Post by vidarh »

ginko wrote: post #29
xyproto wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, EU has a ruleset adapted to the climate of central Europe and not to cold places where almost no food grows and eating seals and fighting polar bears is how you stay alive. This is an extreme example, but Norway is more dependent on fish for sustenance than many other countries.

> eating seals and fighting polar bears is how you stay alive Your image of Norway may be a bit off.. It's true though that Norway is overly protective of its food industry. And arguably for good reason since it wouldn't be competitive at all if integrated with the rest of Europe.

As a Norwegian, I do like the idea that foreigners see me as capable of fighting a polar bear.

As for seals, I've eaten seal, I think, but it's hardly been a dietary mainstay... We used to have whale regularly when I was a kid, mostly because back then it was much cheaper than beef (and much tougher, and oily... it was not great meat - it's expensive now due to low supply and nostalgia).

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#59

Post by zinekeller »

mjw_byrne wrote: post #52

I was a little surprised by this: "The DPA highlighted that users should have a real choice not to consent without any negative consequences." Does this mean that it is unacceptable to run a service which requires consent to share data? That seems overly restrictive - where does that leave services in which sharing data is the whole point of the service? The article goes on to say: "Grindr made use of the app conditi…

If a marketing service are upfront about "asking your preferences to serve as a reference to participating companies" and that is the primary purpose, they would be allowed under GDPR. Now the real question is would someone wants to do this? Knowing that around 17% of Americans would do this, it would fly in America. Now, would this fly in Europe?

Re: Grindr to be fined almost €10M over GDPR complaint

#60

Post by remus »

mjw_byrne wrote: post #52

I was a little surprised by this: "The DPA highlighted that users should have a real choice not to consent without any negative consequences." Does this mean that it is unacceptable to run a service which requires consent to share data? That seems overly restrictive - where does that leave services in which sharing data is the whole point of the service? The article goes on to say: "Grindr made use of the app conditi…

> Does this mean that it is unacceptable to run a service which requires consent to share data? That seems overly restrictive - where does that leave services in which sharing data is the whole point of the service?

In this case the issue was that the consent was not informed. That is, Grindr weren't making it clear enough that the highly personal information they collected was then shared with hundreds of advertising partners.

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