The French data protection agency (CNIL) has fined Microsoft 60 million euros, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The reason, the absence of a mechanism to reject the cookies advertising on Bing, as required by European regulations. Not the GDPR, but a more specific one called ePrivacy, of national application.
Indeed, as soon as you enter the Bing website, the Microsoft search engine, the typical drop-down with options to accept or reject the cookies appears before the user, but for some reason, this was not the case on the French version of the site, at least for a while. And that has earned Microsoft a fine from the French authorities.
A derisory fine, if we take into account that one of the largest companies in the world receives it, but a fine that, after all, has achieved its goal, which is that French users can decide on the cookies who consent and those who do not. However, the mess is not over, nor does it seem that it will be soon.
And it is that France has imposed another fine on Microsoft, 60,000 euros a day for three monthsas long as Bing does not include in the consent of the cookies one for ad fraud detection that the company passes as “essential.” Ergo, the user cannot choose to reject said cookie and the debate is served.
Because… is it a cookie really essential? At Microsoft they say they are “concerned about the position of the CNIL on advertising fraud”, since they maintain that a cookie of that kind “should not require the consent of those who intend to defraud others.” Thus, Microsoft is expected to appeal the ruling.
The question that remains in the air is the one posed by Microsoft: Does the company have the right to track users as long as it is for good cause? They target offenders, but the truth is that the cookie The whole world swallows it and that Microsoft uses it for a purpose, means that they limit themselves to that.
Not to mention that neither Microsoft nor any other company can claim the right or duty to police the Internet. The case is resolved in one direction or another, the fine will apply until it happens and, if Microsoft loses, it must grant that cookie is likely to be rejected as well.
