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Google fined $57 Million by France on account of GDPR offense

Google fined $57 Million by France on account of GDPR offense
  • France’s data regulatory body, CNIL imposed fines to a tune of $57 million on the search engine giant.
  • According to CNIL, Google failed to be clear when it came to utilizing user data in its offerings.

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL), which oversees privacy laws related to personal data in France, has slapped a hefty fine of $57 million on Google on Monday.

It has come to light that the tech giant failed to include better transparency regarding its user data policies. CNIL told media that Google made it unclear for users to understand on how their data was used for targeted advertising.

Not meeting the GDPR standards

After the EU General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) came into effect last year, CNIL has devotedly followed the former in terms of data regulations. GDPR mainly focuses on transparency from data collecting companies in terms of how they use data they collect as well their consent on data sharing.

Following its implementation in 2018, companies in and outside EU, have reorganized their businesses to meet GDPR’s standards. Despite Google making changes in its offerings, it was not yet enough to be in accordance with the user data privacy regulations specified under GDPR.

The restricted committee of CNIL which oversaw the matter, stated that "the users’ consent is not sufficiently informed". "The information on processing operations for the ads personalization is diluted in several documents and does not enable the user to be aware of their extent," the committee added.

Furthermore, the restricted committee observed that the collected consent is neither “specific” nor “unambiguous”.

"This type of procedure leads the user to give global consent... but the consent is not 'specific' as the GDPR requires. Each day thousands of French users create a Google account on their smartphones. As a result, the company has a special responsibility when it comes to respecting their obligations in this domain,” stated CNIL.

As it stands, Google is the fourth company imposed with huge fines after GDPR came into force. In light of this incident, Google is yet to file an appeal.

“People expect high standards of transparency and control from us. We're deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements of the GDPR," said a Google spokesperson.


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