Norway Fines Xandr €8.6M Over Grindr Data

Norway's Datatilsynet on October 12, 2026, fined adtech firm Xandr 92 million kroner (~€8.6 million / $9.61 million) for unlawfully processing and sharing Grindr users' personal data, the largest fine it has ever issued. From July 2018 to April 2020, before Microsoft bought Xandr, the company relayed data revealing users' sexual orientation into real-time ad auctions available to potentially thousands of companies. The fine was based on Xandr's revenue, not Microsoft's. Datatilsynet said thousands of Norwegian users were affected. Chief Line Coll said the violations are "very serious" and that responsibility for data protection cannot be delegated. Xandr said it believed Grindr had obtained consent; the authority rejected that and held Xandr jointly responsible. Microsoft said the conduct predated its acquisition and it is reviewing the decision and assessing options. The case began with a 2020 complaint by the Norwegian Consumer Council and noyb, which called the ruling "a valuable precedent." Xandr has three weeks to appeal. Grindr was fined 65 million kroner in 2021 for the same breaches, a penalty Norwegian courts upheld in 2025.