France has fined Google and Amazon for cookies

France has fined Google and Amazon for cookies

The French Independent Data Protection Supervisor (CNIL) has imposed its largest fine of € 100 million to date on two Google divisions for violating local rules on advertising cookies. CNIL also fined its subsidiary Amazon on Thursday for violating the same rules. The regulatory authority found that Google and Amazon place advertising cookies on French websites without the prior consent of visitors. And Google and Amazon also did not provide Internet users with adequate information about how they want to use cookies and how visitors to French websites may refuse them. A cookie is information stored in a browser on a user's computer that allows web servers to identify users and remember their previous activity. CNIL recalled that this type of file "can only be placed after the user's consent". The Office stated that Amazon did not provide clear or complete information on the cookies it placed on users' computers until September 2020, when it made certain changes. Although Google stopped placing cookies without consent in September, it still does not provide a sufficient explanation of their use, the office added. CNIL added in a statement that Amazon and Google have three months to change the information banners. If they fail to do so, they will face another fine of € 100,000 each day until they make amends. Last year at the beginning of the year, the CNIL fined Google EUR 50 million for breaches of European Union data protection rules. Amazon and Google have not yet commented on the fine for cookies.