Google LLC – €90,000,000 Fine (France, 2021)

€90,000,000Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés31 December 2021France
final
ePrivacy
Fine

France's data protection authority fined Google EUR 90,000,000 for making it harder to reject cookies than to accept them on their websites. This matters because it shows that companies need to make it easy for users to control their privacy settings. Google must now change its cookie settings to comply with the rules.

What happened

Google made it more difficult for users to reject cookies than to accept them on its websites.

Who was affected

Internet users visiting google.fr and youtube.com who faced difficulty in rejecting cookies.

What the authority found

The French data protection authority ruled that Google's cookie settings violated users' freedom of consent under French law.

Why this matters

This decision emphasizes that companies must provide equal ease for users to accept or reject cookies. Website operators should review their cookie consent mechanisms to ensure they comply with user consent requirements.

National Law Articles

AI-identified

Art. 82 loi Informatique et Libertés
Source verified 4 March 2026
national law identified
France enforcementCommission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés actionsAll Google LLC actions
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

Google's websites required more steps to reject cookies than to accept them, interfering with users' freedom of consent.

Violations (2)

No Reject Button
critical

Cookie banner does not provide a clear reject/refuse all button at the same level as the accept button.

Art. 7 GDPR

Reject Harder Than Accept
critical

Refusing cookies requires more clicks or steps than accepting them, or the reject option is less visually prominent.

Art. 7 GDPR

Related Enforcement Actions (4)

Other enforcement actions involving Google LLC in FR

Fine
Jan 2019· Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés

The fine was imposed on the basis of complaints from the Austrian organisation 'None Of Your Business' and the French NGO 'La Quadrature du Net'. The ...

€50.0M
Court Ruling
Mar 2021· Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés

On December, 7 2020, the French DPA imposed a financial penalty of 60 Million euros fine against Google LLC and a 40 million euros against Google Irel...

Fine
Dec 2021· Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés

Google's cookie banner on google.fr lacked an equally prominent reject button, making it harder to refuse cookies than to accept them.

€150.0M
Current
Dec 2021

Fine

€90.0M

Fine
Sept 2025· Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés

The case involved advertising emails sent without consent, unrelated to cookie or consent banner issues.

€325.0M

Similar Cases

Enforcement actions with similar violations

IBERIA LÍNEAS AÉREAS DE ESPAÑA, S.A. OPERADORA UNIPERSONAL

2020 · Agencia Española de Protección de Datos

€30K

Radio Popular S.A.

2021 · Agencia Española de Protección de Datos

€1K

D.A.A.A

2019 · Agencia Española de Protección de Datos

€18K

CNIL

2019 · Court of Justice of the European Union

ANSPDCP

2025 · Autoritatea Națională de Supraveghere a Prelucrării Datelor cu Caracter Personal

Details

Fine Date

31 December 2021

Authority

Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés

Fine Amount

€90,000,000

Enforcement Tracker ID

ETid-978

Sources

About this data

Data: CMS GDPR Enforcement Tracker
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified
Cookie relevance: 100%

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Google LLC - France (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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