Google Fined $379 Million by French Regulator for Cookie Consent Violations

According to CNIL, the French data protection authority, Google was fined $379 million (€325 million) for cookie consent violations, with Chinese e‑commerce firm Shein fined $175 million (€150 million) for the same issue. The regulator said both companies placed advertising cookies on users’ browsers without securing consent. Google’s approach was described as encouraging cookies linked to personalised ads and not clearly informing users that advertising cookies were a condition to access Google’s services.

CNIL noted that the consent obtained in this manner was not valid and that the lack of informed consent persisted even after a default option to refuse cookies was introduced in October 2023. Google has been ordered to bring its systems into compliance within six months, or risk penalties of €100,000 per day. The fine follows CNIL’s assessment that the consent mechanisms did not meet French data protection requirements for cookie usage.