France inflicts nearly $ 57 million on Google for first major breach of new EU privacy regime

The French authorities have fined Google nearly $ 57 million for violating the new stringent data protection rules in Europe. This is the first major penalty imposed on a US tech giant since the coming into force of the regional regulations last year.

The CNIL, the largest French agency for data protection, said Monday that Google had not revealed to users how their personal information was collected and what happened to them. Google has also not obtained user consent to show them personalized ads, the agency said.

French regulators have said that Google's business practices have violated the new EU general data protection regulation. Implemented in 2018, the stringent privacy rules, commonly referred to as GDPR, have set a global standard that has forced Google and its tech counterparts in Silicon Valley to rethink their data collection practices or risk heavy fines. The United States does not have a similar and comprehensive federal law on the protection of consumer privacy, a loophole in the eyes of the hawks of privacy that has elevated Europe as a de facto privacy policeman in the world.

Despite the changes made by Google to its business practices, the CNIL said in a statement that "the violations found deprive users of essential guarantees for treatment that may reveal important aspects of their privacy, because they rely on a huge amount of data, a wide variety of services and almost infinite possible combinations. "

In response, Google said, "Consider the decision to determine our next steps," adding, "People expect a high level of transparency and control from us, and we are deeply committed to meeting those expectations and RGPD consent requirements. . "

French regulators opened an investigation on Google on May 25 – the same day that the GDPR came into force – in response to the concerns of two groups of privacy activists. They have filed additional complaints against Facebook and their affiliates, the Instagram photo sharing app and the WhatsApp email service, in other EU countries.

"We are delighted to see that, for the first time, a European data protection authority is using the opportunities offered by the GDPR to punish gross violations of the law," said Max Schrems, head of the Nigerian NGO. .eu (none of your belongings). "It is important that the authorities make it clear that just complaining is not enough."

Under the European Data Protection Act, technology giants, including Google, must give users a clear and complete picture of the data they collect, as well as simple and specific tools to consent to what their personal information is exploited. In both cases, France said that Google had made a mistake.

According to the CNIL, all the details on the use of personal information of users by Google are "excessively scattered in several documents". The lack of transparency is even more shocking to users, said the watchdog, because of the sheer volume of services offered by Google, including its card service, YouTube and its app store.

Even though Google users may change their privacy settings when they create an account, the French authorities have indicated that this still is not enough, in part because the default setting is that Google will display personalized ads to the account. Purpose of the users. At the same time, Google requires subscribers to fully subscribe to its terms and conditions to create an account, a form of consent reproached to the CNIL because it requires users to accept everything – or not use the service at all.

For Google, his fine in France marks only his last headache in Europe. Regulators across the region have repeatedly investigated the privacy practices of the research giant, while EU supervisory bodies have reviewed Google for antitrust reasons. In 2018, Google had to face a much larger and record $ 5 billion fine to smother its competitors on Android, its smartphone operating system.

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