France Fines Microsoft for Violating Rules Around Cookies
In the latest update from France, the country’s privacy watchdog National Commission for Technology and Freedoms (CNIL), has fined Microsoft Ireland worth 60 million euros or $64 million USD. CNIL said that Bing – Microsoft’s search engine, has not set up any mechanism letting users refuse cookies. CNIL mentioned that Microsoft stores cookies whenever it visits websites on its search engine, which is imminently used for advertising purposes. All this is happening without the user’s consent which is a straightforward violation of the EU’s laws against cookies that it passed in 2018. The watchdog added that Bing has set up a mechanism to accept cookies in one step. On the other hand, if users want to refuse cookies, they have to tap twice to refuse Bing from using cookies for purposes like advertising. Thus, a 60 million euro fine has been imposed by CNIL on Microsoft Ireland, where its European operations are handled. An additional 60,000 euros would be added to the fine daily once the deadline is overdue. For now, Microsoft has three months to comply with changes directed by CNIL to adhere to the EU’s GDPR, which was launched in May 2018. CNIL has been checking sites and if they follow EU laws regarding web cookies. It was the one that fined Google and Facebook worth 150 million and 60 million euros, respectively, for breaching EU’s laws around the use of cookies.
