The Norwegian Data Protection Authority imposed a fine of 5.5 million pounds on ‘Grindr’ on location Dating app under the charges of breaking GDPR rules.

Grinder app is a Dating app based on the location and the object is to provide the connection especially for the LGBTQ community. It has been caught by the Norwegian Authority with Red-handed while sharing the personal data without the consent of the users to the Advertisers.

The grinder has revealed the facts during the investigation that there was a contract signed between both parties. It accepted the crime and requested the authority to reduce the amount of fine.

The Company provided details of its financial situation and asked that company doesn’t have such a big amount to pay. Later on, the fine was reduced from 8.6 million pounds to 5.6 million.

Tobias Judin, head of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority’s (DPA) international department, said “we conclude that Grinder has disclosed user’s data to the third party for behavioral advertisement without a legal basis,”

The basis of the investigation was the complaint that was filed by the Norwegian Consumer Council. The authority revealed the fact of imposing such a big amount of fine due to the grave infringements made by the app.

The authority found that the app was sharing the GPS location, IP address, age, gender, and advertising ID, and other facts of Grindr’s users.

According to the regulations of GDPR, the act committed by the culprit was particularly intrusive to one’s privacy because the data of a person’s sexual orientation constitutes special category data that merits particular safety under the GDPR rules.

Users of this app were forced to agree with the privacy policy and they were also not asked the consent especially for sharing their data with a third party.

The company was told to remove the illegal data from the app and follow all the norms with the GDPR standards. And it has been given three weeks to file its response.