French Personal Data Protection Authority: "Bells" on Google and Facebook

Cnil, the French privacy authority, has imposed heavy fines of € 150 million and € 60 million respectively on Google and Facebook for their practices on cookies, digital crawlers used specifically for targeted advertising.

The amount of the fine imposed on Google is a record in all categories of sanctions imposed by the Committee on Information Technology and Freedoms (Cnil), exceeding a previous fine of 100 million euros imposed on Google in December 2020, already for the issue of cookies .

"Cnil has found that the websites facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com do not allow" the denial of cookies "just as easily" as is done for their acceptance, she noted.

The two platforms have three months to comply, as otherwise "companies will each have to pay a fine of 100.000 euros for each day of delay".

In a response to AFP, Google announced a change in its practices following Cnil's decision. "Respecting the expectations of internet users, (…) we are committed to implementing new changes, as well as to actively cooperate with Cnil in responding to its decision, within the framework of the (European) ePrivacy directive", the American company assures.

Meta, Facebook's parent company, also announced that it was "evaluating Cnil's decision and that it would continue to work with regulators" on these issues. "We will continue to develop and improve the control tools" of internet users regarding cookies, the company noted.

RES-EAP