Borgarting Court of Appeal has handed down a verdict in the Grindr case on Tuesday 21 October, and Grindr’s appeal over the District Court's verdict did not succeed. The fine of NOK 65 million was maintained.
The Court of Appeal ruled that 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.
"This is a fundamental and important decision for the right to data protection. We are pleased that our assessments have been upheld through three rounds of appeals," says Line Coll, Director General of the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.
Grindr is a location-based dating app aimed towards gay and bisexual men, transgender people and queer people. In 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Council Grindr lodged a complaint against the app with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. The context for the complaint was that Grindr disclosed personal data to several third parties for marketing purposes. (Read more on forbrukerradet.no)
The Data Protection Authority concluded that Grindr disclosed personal data about users to third parties for behavioural advertising without a valid consent. Moreover, the fact that someone is a Grindr user was found to constitute data about their sexual orientation or sex life. In December 2021, the Data Protection Authority issued an administrative fine of NOK 65 million.
Grindr appealed the decision, and in 2022 the case was sent to the Privacy Appeals Board for processing. In September 2023, the Privacy Appeals Board upheld the conclusions of the Data Protection Authority as well as the administrative fine.
Grindr then took the Privacy Appeals Board’s decision to the courts, and in 2024, the Oslo District Court upheld the fine. Oslo District Court considered that Grindr’s consents were not valid, and that Grindr transferred special category personal data to advertising partners.
Grindr appealed the judgment from Oslo District Court, and the case was heard in Borgarting Court of Appeal on 12-14 August 2025.
Borgarting Court of Appeal today rejected Grindr's appeal, meaning that the state won. Like the District Court, the Court of Appeal upholds our and the Privacy Appeal Board's assessments on all points, and the administrative fine of NOK 65 million is maintained.
The deadline for appeals is one month. Processing cases in the Supreme Court requires the consent of the Supreme Court's Appeals Committee.