Google, Shein Fined €475M for Cookie Law Breaches
France's data protection watchdog, CNIL, has slapped tech giants Google and Shein with hefty fines for breaching internet cookie laws. Google faces a €325 million penalty, while Shein is fined €150 million.
CNIL has been cracking down on 'cookie walls', where users are forced to accept cookies to access services. Google displayed ads in Gmail's 'Promotions' and 'Social' tabs without user consent, pushing users to accept targeted advertising cookies. The regulator found that Google did not clearly inform users that accepting these cookies was a condition for using its services.
Shein, with 12 million monthly French visitors, was fined due to the scale of the problem and inadequate user tracking disclosures. The company failed to obtain user consent prior to tracking users online with advertising cookies. Following the probe, Shein has since updated its policies to comply with French and European data protection laws.
The fines against Google and Shein highlight CNIL's increasing scrutiny of cookie walls and online tracking practices. The regulator has been actively enforcing user consent rules, with these penalties serving as a reminder for companies to respect internet cookie laws.
