In all, Google and Facebook have been fined 210 million euros by a French market watchdog. Of this, the fine imposed on Google is 150 million Euros. Facebook has been fined 60 million euros.
These fines have been imposed for complicating the process of rejecting cookies or online trackers. At the same time, the two tech giants have been given three months to make it easier for users to reject cookies in the wake of allegations by the country’s data privacy watchdog, CNIL. And if they do not, both companies will be fined 100,000 euros per day.
According to Karin Kaifer, CNIL’s head of data security, as a single click is required to accept cookie; They have also suggested to have the opportunity to reject it with a single click.
CNIL alleges that while the two tech giants have virtual buttons for instantaneous one-click cookie acceptance, they do not have any similar buttons for easy rejection.
The BBC reports that both Google and Facebook have taken the issue seriously.
In 2018, the European Union enacted a new law on personal data. By law, technology service providers are required to obtain direct user permission before installing cookies on a user’s computer. Google has been fined more than once for violating European law on this issue. The search giant was also the victim of CNIL’s record 100 million Euro fine in 2020.
