The CNIL, guardian of the privacy of the French, imposed heavy fines of 150 and 60 million euros respectively on Google and Facebook for their practices in terms of "
cookies
", these digital tracers used in particular for targeted advertising, a she announced Thursday.
The amount of the fine imposed on Google is a record in all categories for the sanctions imposed by the CNIL, in front of a previous fine of 100 million euros to Google in December 2020, already on the subject of cookies.
"
The CNIL has found that the facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com sites do not allow
" to refuse cookies "
as simply
" as to accept them, she indicated.
The two platforms have three months to comply, failing which "
companies will each have to pay a fine of 100,000 euros per day of delay
," she added.
Difficulty refusing cookies
In a reaction sent to AFP, Google announced a change in its practices, following the Cnil's decision. "
While respecting the expectations of Internet users, (...) we are committed to implementing new changes, as well as to working actively with the CNIL in response to its decision, within the framework of the directive (European editor's note) ePrivacy
”, assured the American giant.
Cookies are small computer files installed by websites on the terminals of their visitors, for technical or targeted advertising purposes.
In particular, they allow the agencies to track the user's browsing, in order to be able to send them personalized advertising related to their areas of interest.
They are regularly denounced for the breaches of the privacy of Internet users that they may cause.
Since the entry into force of the European regulation on personal data in 2018, websites have been required to comply with stricter rules to obtain the consent of Internet users before placing their cookies.
In the case of the sanctions imposed on Google and Facebook, the CNIL calls into question the contrast between the ease with which the Internet user accepts cookies and the difficulty of refusing them.
“
The facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com websites offer a button to immediately accept cookies
,” explained the Cnil.
On the other hand, "
several clicks are necessary to refuse all cookies
", she denounced.
To add to the confusion, the button added by Facebook to refuse trackers is even called "
Accept cookies
", she noted.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/KMEYMJKESBAZBE4MRBAM4TGHIQ.jpg)
