Datatilsynet (Norway) / Borgarting Court of Appeal — Grindr LLC
The Borgarting Court of Appeal upheld Datatilsynet's NOK 65 million fine against Grindr, ruling the app lacked valid consent to disclose users' data to advertising partners for behavioural-advertising profiling and that app-use data is special-category data.
Key takeaway — how to prevent this
Don't overstate AI capabilities to investors or customers. 'AI-washing' — claiming AI you don't have, or that doesn't work as described — triggers securities and consumer-protection enforcement; disclosures must match reality.
Case brief
Read from the authority's press release on 2026-09-06. Every holding carries a short verbatim quote from that text.
- Decided by
- Borgarting Court of Appeal
- Parties
- Norwegian Data Protection Authority v. Grindr
- Decision date
- October 21, 2025
- Remedy
- The Borgarting Court of Appeal rejected Grindr's appeal and maintained the administrative fine of NOK 65 million.
- Amount
- NOK 65,000,000
- Appeal
- Appeal status not stated
Key holdings
The Borgarting Court of Appeal rejected Grindr's appeal and ruled in favor of the state.
“Borgarting Court of Appeal today rejected Grindr's appeal, meaning that the state won.” — Judgment from Borgarting Court of Appeal
The court held that Grindr lacked valid consent to share personal data and that app usage data is special category personal data.
“Grindr did not have valid consents to disclose personal data to advertising partners, and that data about the use of the app is special category personal data.”
The court maintained the administrative fine of NOK 65 million.
“the administrative fine of NOK 65 million is maintained.” — Judgment from Borgarting Court of Appeal
In plain English
In 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Council lodged a complaint against Grindr with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority regarding the sharing of personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. The authority concluded that Grindr shared user personal data with third parties for behavioural advertising without valid consent and determined that being a Grindr user constitutes data concerning sexual orientation or sex life. In December 2021, the authority imposed an administrative fine of NOK 65 million. Grindr appealed, and in 2022 the case went to the Privacy Appeals Board, which upheld the decision in September 2023. Grindr subsequently took the matter to court, where the Oslo District Court upheld the fine in 2024. Grindr then appealed to the Borgarting Court of Appeal, which heard the case on 12-14 August 2025. On 21 October 2025, the Borgarting Court of Appeal handed down its judgment rejecting Grindr's appeal and upholding the NOK 65 million fine in full. Grindr has a deadline of one month to apply for consent to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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