France hits Google with $169 Million over Cookie Breaches

CNIL, France’s data privacy watchdog has hit Google with a record fine of 150 million euros ($169 million) for making it hard for internet users to decline cookies.

Last year Google was hit with all sorts of fines by some European regulatory bodies for several infringements. The last for that year was a fine by Russia for Google’s refusal to remove certain banned content from its search engine.

One of the top priorities for the CNIL and a key pillar for the European Union’s data privacy regulation is internet users’ prior consent for the use of cookies.

Karin Kiefer, CNIL’s head for data protection and sanctions said, “When you accept cookies, it’s done in just one click. Rejecting cookies should be as easy as accepting them”.

The CNIL in a statement also revealed that it had discovered that Facebook, Google, and Youtube websites make it difficult for internet users to refuse cookies making specific reference to Google’s video-streaming platform.

The watchdog also disclosed it has given the company three months to comply or risk being slammed with another fine of 100,000 euros per day of delay. These include the obligation for Google to provide French internet users simpler tools for refusing cookies, to guarantee their consent.

The CNIL said that while Google provided a virtual button to allow the immediate acceptance of cookies, there was no equivalent to refuse them as easily.

“People trust us to respect their right to privacy and keep them safe. We understand our responsibility to protect that trust and are committing to further changes and active work with the CNIL in light of this decision,” a Google spokesperson said.

According to Reuters, CNIL had fined Google a record amount of 100 million euros. CNIL had discovered that Google’s French websites didn’t seek the permission of visitors before advertising cookies were saved on computers and also failed to provide clear information about how it intended to make use of them.

Kiefer however revealed that the matter had been resolved back then.