France fines Google, Amazon $160M for using 'cookies' without consent

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- France's data protection agency said Thursday it has fined U.S. tech giants Google and Amazon a combined $160 million for using tracking "cookies" without users' consent.

France's National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) announced a fine of $120 million for Google and $42.4 million for Amazon.

The commission said investigators found over the past year that both companies automatically deployed cookies -- small pieces of tracking data that are stored on a user's computer when they visit a website -- without consent, a violation of France's Data Protection Act.

CNIL said it found that Google committed three violations and Amazon two. It also said notifications that were given to users about the cookies, as required by law, failed to provide sufficient information about the tracking data that were used.

French and EU law both mandate that tech companies thoroughly inform users about cookies and receive consent before they can be imposed. A year ago, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified strict rules concerning cookies that have been followed by European countries for years.

While CNIL found that both Google and Amazon had used cookies without consent, the commission also determined that Google continued to store them on users' computers even if they'd opted to deactivate ad personalization.

Google and Amazon have both disputed the French findings.

"People who use Google expect us to respect their privacy, whether they have a Google account or not," a representative said. "We stand by our record of providing upfront information and clear controls, strong internal data governance, secure infrastructure and above all, helpful products."

"We continuously update our privacy practices to ensure that we meet the evolving needs and expectations of customers and regulators and fully comply with all applicable laws in every country in which we operate," Amazon said.