The National Commission on Information and Freedom of the French Privacy Regulatory Authority (CNIL) fined Google 325 million euros (approximately RMB 2.7 billion) on Wednesday because Google inserted an advertisement between the e-mails of Gmail users and placed it on the trail of Cookie without the consent of the user.
The fine arose out of two violations of French advertising and Cookie law by Google, in response to a complaint filed in 2022 by the privacy organization Noyb. The first violation involved Google inserting advertisements in the mail of Gmail users without their consent. The CNIL survey found that Google tied advertising to the “smart function” available to Gmail users. Users who agree to open the “smart function” will be advertised in their restructured Gmail inbox (e.g. new “promoting” and “social” labels), a process that is not explicitly authorized by the user.
According to CNIL, this move is contrary to the French Code on Post and Electronic Communications (the country ‘ s domestic implementing legislation for the EU Directive on Electronic Privacy, which regulates private communications). The regulator also found that Google had failed to obtain valid consent to the deployment of the commercial Cookie. According to CNIL’s press release, Google encourages users to accept personalized ads Cookie instead of general ads.
The regulator noted that “the user was not informed that the advertisement Cookie was necessary to use Google services”. This fine was one of the highest fines issued by CNIL. CNIL explains that the fine is based on the size of the affected user – – Cookie agreed to the violation with ads and 74 million accounts involving 53 million Gmail users.
In a press release by the organization, the private activist, Noyb President Max Schrems said: “We are very pleased that the CNIL sanctions Google as a flagrant violation.” In response to the punishment, Google spokespersons indicated to the media that the decision was under consideration and stated that they had been working with CNIL to address concerns about the direction of its product advertising. The speaker added: “During the past two years, as acknowledged by CNIL, we have made additional updates to address their concerns, including the option of creating Google accounts by providing a single key to reject individualized advertising and changing the way Gmail is advertised.”
At the same time, the French CIL also fined Shein, the country ‘ s cross-border powerer, 150 million euros because its users did not obtain permission to post the ad Cookie when they visited the site. The regulator found that Shein did not provide sufficient information in the Cookie banner and did not fully respect the right of users to refuse or withdraw consent.
