The French data protection agency fined the companies on Thursday Google and Facebook with 150 and 60 million euros respectively due to “cookies”, computer trackers they use for advertising purposes.
The 150 million euros (about 165 million dollars) inflicted on Google represents the largest fine to date in France for this company, which was already sanctioned with another 100 million euros (about 113 million dollars) in December 2020 for the same reasons.
The National Commission of Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL) “has found that the sites facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com they do not allow “rejecting” cookies “” just as simply “as if the user decides to accept them, the statement said.
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Facebook and Google (owner of YouTube) have three months to correct this detrimental imbalance for the user, On pain of paying an additional 100,000 euros (about $ 113,000) for each day of delay, the French commission added.
Google assured that it would change its policy after this new fine, in a statement sent to AFP.
“We are committed to applying new changes, as well as working actively with the CNIL in response to your decision, in accordance with the directive [europea] ePrivacy, “said the US giant.
“Several clicks”
The “cookies” or computer cookies are small files that detect the sites visited by internet users, which are then the subject of supposedly personalized advertising messages.
This tracking is regularly denounced by consumer defense associations and Internet users.
The In 2018, the European Union approved a regulation on personal data with stricter rules. Users receive, when opening an internet page, a notice to specifically authorize the use of “cookies”, to partially modify that use or simply not to accept it.
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But the total rejection of computer tracking is difficult, criticizes the French CNIL. “The websites facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com offer a button that allows you to immediately accept the ‘cookies‘”, while to reject them completely” several clicks are necessary, “explains the statement.
The French body had given website publishers until April 2021 to adapt to European regulations. In July, the newspaper Le Figaro was the first to suffer the consequences of this hardening, with a fine of 50,000 euros (about $ 55,000) for the “cookies” used by business partners on the newspaper’s website.
The commission recently warned that since April it has sent notices to 90 internet sites to modify their devices.
Amazon was also fined in 2020, with 35 million euros (about 39 million dollars) for the same causes.
