Just Politics

France fines Microsoft €60m for imposing advert cookies on users

France’s privacy watchdog, on Thursday, said it has fined United States tech giant, Microsoft, 60 million euros ($64 million) for foisting advertising cookies on users.

In the largest fine imposed in 2022, the National Commission for Technology and Freedoms (CNIL) said Microsoft’s search engine Bing had not set up a system allowing users to refuse cookies as simply as accepting them.

The French regulator said after investigations it found that “when users visited this site, cookies were deposited on their terminal without their consent, while these cookies were used, among others, for advertising purposes.”

READ ALSO: Biden to Zelensky: I’ll back Ukraine as long as it takes

It also “observed that there was no button allowing to refuse the deposit of cookies as easily as accepting it.”

The CNIL said the fine was justified in part because of the profits Microsoft made from advertising profits indirectly generated from the data collected via cookies – tiny data files that track online browsing.

The company has been given three months to rectify the issue, with a potential further penalty of 60,000 euros per day overdue.

Last year the CNIL said it would carry out a year of checks against sites not following the rules on using web cookies. Google and Facebook were sanctioned last year by the CNI with fines of 150 million and 60 millioneuros respectively for similar breaches.

The Star

Segun Ojo

Recent Posts

TCN: Why national grid collapsed

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has explained the reason behind the collapse of the…

6 hours ago

Police officer dies in Lagos-Ibadan expressway accident

A police officer has been confirmed dead in an accident involving a truck and two…

6 hours ago

FG unveils free cesarean sections for women to combat maternal mortality

The Federal Government has unveiled a nationwide free cesarean section initiative aimed at reducing Nigeria’s…

9 hours ago

National grid collapses for second time in 3 days

The national grid has again collapsed, leading to a nationwide blackout. This is the second…

12 hours ago

‘Doing harm to kids’: Australia to ban children under 16 from social media

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to ban children under 16 from social media,…

15 hours ago

Lagos govt shuts churches, hotels over noise pollution

The Lagos State Government has shut churches, including the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)…

15 hours ago

This website uses cookies.