SA Rossel & Cie – Fine (Belgium, 2022)

Fine
Autorité de Protection des Données16 June 2022Belgium
final
Fine

General GDPR enforcement action

This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.

SA Rossel & Cie, a media company in Belgium, faced issues for not following privacy rules regarding cookies on its websites. They placed cookies without consent and had pre-ticked consent boxes. Although a fine was initially imposed, it was later overturned, showing the complexities of cookie consent regulations.

What happened

The Belgian data protection authority found that SA Rossel & Cie violated cookie consent rules on its websites.

Who was affected

Visitors to the company's websites who were tracked by cookies without their consent.

What the authority found

The authority initially fined the company for not obtaining proper consent for cookie use, but this fine was later overturned by a court.

Why this matters

This case underscores the importance of clear cookie consent practices for website operators. Even if fines are overturned, compliance with privacy laws is crucial.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 13(GDPR)
Art. 14(GDPR)
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 7(1) GDPR
Art. 12(1) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 6(1) a) GDPR
Art. 7(1) GDPR
Art. 12(1) GDPR
Art. 13(GDPR)
Art. 14(GDPR)

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

Source verified 11 April 2026
amount discrepancy
authority corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

Insufficient legal basis for data processing

Violations (5)

Pre-ticked Consent Boxes
high

Cookie consent checkboxes are pre-selected by default, violating the requirement for active, affirmative consent.

Art. 4(11) GDPR

Cookies Placed Before Consent
critical

Non-essential cookies (tracking, advertising) are placed on the user's device before obtaining valid consent.

Art. 6(1) GDPR

Cookies Persist After Rejection
critical

Tracking cookies remain active or are re-placed even after the user explicitly rejects them.

Art. 6(1) GDPR

Third-Party Cookies Without Consent
critical

Third-party tracking cookies or scripts are loaded without obtaining prior user consent.

Art. 13, 14 GDPR

Unclear Cookie Information
high

The cookie banner or cookie policy provides vague, incomplete, or unclear information about what cookies are used and why.

Art. 12, 13 GDPR

Related Enforcement Actions (0)

No other enforcement actions found for SA Rossel & Cie in BE

This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Fine Date

16 June 2022

Authority

Autorité de Protection des Données

Enforcement Tracker ID

1233

About this data

Data: CMS GDPR Enforcement Tracker
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. SA Rossel & Cie - Belgium (2022). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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