A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V. – €50,000 Fine (Netherlands, 2024)
A.S. Watson Health & Beauty was fined EUR 50,000 by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for tracking website visitors without their consent. They made it hard for users to refuse cookies, which is against privacy rules and can lead to unauthorized data collection.
What happened
The Dutch DPA fined A.S. Watson for using pre-ticked consent boxes and making it difficult for users to reject tracking cookies on their website.
Who was affected
Website visitors to A.S. Watson's Kruidvat.nl drugstore site were affected as their browsing behavior was tracked without proper consent.
What the authority found
The DPA ruled that A.S. Watson violated GDPR by not obtaining valid consent for tracking cookies and making rejection harder than acceptance.
Why this matters
This ruling emphasizes the need for clear and user-friendly consent mechanisms for cookies. Website operators should review their cookie practices to ensure compliance.
GDPR Articles Cited
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Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.
The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 600,000 on A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V.. The controller had tracked visitors to their drugstore website “Kruidvat.nl” with tracking cookies without their consent. The cookie banner on the website had the boxes for consenting to the placement of tracking software pre-ticked by default. Visitors who nevertheless wanted to reject the cookies could only do so with greater difficulty. This allowed the controller to collect sensitive personal data from millions of website visitors and create profiles. Among other things, the controller collected location data and information on purchased products. Since the products purchased included drugstore products, it was also possible to draw conclusions about health conditions based on the purchase of pregnancy tests or medication, for example. ---UPDATE --- Following an objection filed by the processor, the DPA reduced the fine from EUR 600,000 to a sum of EUR 50,000.
Violations (4)
Refusing cookies requires more clicks or steps than accepting them, or the reject option is less visually prominent.
Art. 7 GDPR
Cookie consent checkboxes are pre-selected by default, violating the requirement for active, affirmative consent.
Art. 4(11) GDPR
Non-essential cookies (tracking, advertising) are placed on the user's device before obtaining valid consent.
Art. 6(1) GDPR
Third-party tracking cookies or scripts are loaded without obtaining prior user consent.
Art. 13, 14 GDPR
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V. in NL
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Similar Cases
Enforcement actions with similar violations
Details
Fine Date
2 May 2024
Authority
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
Fine Amount
€50,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-2399
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V. - Netherlands (2024). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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