GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED – €125,000,000 Fine (France, 2025)
GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED was fined €125 million for misleading cookie consent practices. Users were not given a clear choice to reject cookies and were pressured into accepting them. This ruling emphasizes the need for transparency in how companies handle user consent.
What happened
The company was fined for creating a confusing cookie consent process that misled users.
Who was affected
Users who were required to accept cookies without a clear option to reject them when signing up for Google's services.
What the authority found
The French Data Protection Authority found that Google's consent process did not allow for informed user choices, violating ePrivacy rules.
Why this matters
This ruling serves as a strong reminder for all companies to ensure their cookie consent processes are clear and user-friendly. Businesses should review their consent mechanisms to avoid similar fines.
National Law Articles
The French DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 125,000,000 on GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED. While creating an account for the controller's services, the controller designed the cookie consent process in such a way that free, informed consent could not be given. The data subject could only choose between the free service with personalised marketing or a paid-for version without it. The controller also designed its email service so that advertisements could be displayed in areas where data subjects usually found received emails. The DPA classified this form of marketing as direct marketing.
Violations (4)
Cookie banner does not provide a clear reject/refuse all button at the same level as the accept button.
Art. 7 GDPR
Non-essential cookies (tracking, advertising) are placed on the user's device before obtaining valid consent.
Art. 6(1) GDPR
The cookie banner uses misleading language to trick or pressure users into accepting cookies (dark patterns).
Art. 7 GDPR
Users cannot select or deselect individual cookie categories; consent is presented as all-or-nothing.
Art. 4(11) GDPR
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED in FR
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Similar Cases
Enforcement actions with similar violations
Details
Fine Date
1 September 2025
Authority
Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés
Fine Amount
€125,000,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-2863
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED - France (2025). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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