Norway's privacy watchdog just sent Microsoft a nine-figure reminder that user data isn't a free resource.
Xandr, the ad-tech business Microsoft acquired from AT&T in 2022, was fined $9.6 million over allegations that it misused data from Grindr, the gay dating app. Norwegian regulators have called the penalty a record one, though the available details don't spell out exactly how the data was allegedly used or shared. Xandr now has three weeks to appeal before the fine becomes final.
Norway's data protection authority fined Grindr itself roughly $11.7 million back in 2021 for sharing user data, including sexual orientation signals, with ad-tech partners. If Xandr was one of the companies on the receiving end of that data back then, this new case suggests regulators are now working up the supply chain, going after the ad businesses that received sensitive data rather than just the app that handed it over.
For an industry that treats dating-app data as fuel for ad targeting, that's a bigger headache than one more fine against one more app.