Norwegian DPA plans to issue € 2,5 million fine to social media platform

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has notified Disqus Inc. (Disqus) that it intends to issue an administrative fine of NOK 25 000 000 for not complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on accountability, lawfulness, and transparency. Disqus offers an online public comment sharing platform, which was previously used by a number of Norwegian online newspapers, and it also engages in programmatic advertising. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority was made aware of the matter through news articles by the Norwegian National Broadcaster (NRK). According to the NRK, Disqus conducted unlawful tracking of visitors to Norwegian websites using the Disqus plugin. Their data were then disclosed to third party advertising partners.