EU: Google appealing first major GDPR fine

Google announced Wednesday, January 23, it would appeal a record €50 million (US$56.5 million) fine imposed by France’s data regulator for failing to meet the EU’s strict new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The fine was by far the biggest-yet for breaking the European Union’s new privacy rules that came into effect last May.

France’s data watchdog, the CNIL, announced the fine Monday claiming that Google made it too difficult for users to understand and manage preferences on how their personal information is used, particularly with regard to targeted advertising.

“We’ve worked hard to create a GDPR consent process for personalized ads that is as transparent and straightforward as possible, based on regulatory guidance and user experience testing,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

“We’re also concerned about the impact of this ruling on publishers, original content creators and tech companies in Europe and beyond. For all these reasons, we’ve now decided to appeal.”

The CNIL found that despite changes implemented by Google since last year, it was still failing to respect the spirit of the new rules.