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Google Fined $56.8 Million by French Authorities Under New EU Privacy Law
| 01/21/2019
The French government has slapped a $57 million fine on Alphabet Inc.’s Google after the company was adjudged to have violated the new privacy laws put in place by the EU. This latest development is the first time that France has penalized a company that violated the law.
Amazon, Netflix could be affected
The fine imposed on Google is the first time that the French authorities have used the new EU privacy data law. The decision comes just days after complaints were filed across Europe against YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix.
CNIL, the French data authority stated that the company has severely infringed the EU’s General Data Protection Rules, or GDPR which led to the huge amount it was fined. The body noted that Google violated rules in transparency, information, and consent.
The GDPR came into effect on May 25 last year. It granted national privacy regulators the power to fine companies as much as 4 percent of their global annual sales if they violated regulations. This isn’t the first time that Google has come under CNIL’s radar, but the regulatory body was only able to impose a maximum fine of 150,000 euros under the old law.
CNIL is imposing the fine under the new rules for the first time, but several other countries in Europe have benefitted from the new rules already. The fine was imposed after the CNIL received complaints from noyb, a group created by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems and the second from another body.
Google was alleged to have forced its users to accept its new privacy policies, something that is against the GDPR. Google meanwhile released a statement saying that a high level of transparency and control is expected of them and they remain committed to meeting the expectations and requirements of the GDPR.