France has fined Microsoft 60 million euros for imposing the use of cookies on users. The sanction imposed on December 19 states that the technology company breached the Data Protection Law for making use of personal information for advertising purposes without the prior consent of the users.
The National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) of France executed the fine under the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), after a user denounced the conditions for installing cookies on the website “bing.com”.
The sanction states that the technology company breached the Data Protection Law
Internet users who visited the website found cookies stored on their device without prior consent.
PEXELS / EP
The CNIL investigated the page twice, in September 2020 and May 2021, and found that it was in breach of data protection legislation. Internet users who visited the website found cookies stored on their device without having previously given their consent.
After the control, the body of the commission in charge of imposing sanctions, fined Microsoft Ireland Operations with 60 million euros. The CNIL has also imposed a penalty requirement that obliges the technology company to request and obtain the consent of French Internet users on the “bing.com” website within a period of 3 months before placing cookies for advertising purposes on their devices.
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After this period, if Microsoft does not comply with the stipulations, it will have to face a fine of 60,000 euros per day of delay. The sanction includes violations of article 82 of the Data Protection Law, related to the storage of cookies automatically without the consent of users.
The web made it difficult to decline cookies to encourage Internet users to browse with them
The web made it difficult to decline cookies to encourage Internet users to browse with them
Charles Plates / Reuters
The web allowed accepting and rejecting cookies, but made it difficult to decline them to encourage Internet users to browse with them, which violates “the freedom of consent of Internet users.” In addition, when staying on the website, a cookie for advertising purposes was installed on the device.
The amount of the fine is motivated by the number of people affected and the benefits that the company has obtained from advertising revenue generated indirectly by the use of data collected by cookies.
