France Fines Google $57 Million for European Privacy Rule Breach

France Fines Google $57 Million for European Privacy Rule Breach
The logo of Alphabet Inc's Google outside its office in Beijing, China August 8, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters).
|Updated:

PARIS—France’s data protection watchdog fined Alphabet’s Google 50 million euros ($57 million) on Jan. 21 for breaching European Union online privacy rules, the biggest such penalty levied against a U.S. tech giant.

The French regulator said the world’s biggest search engine lacked transparency and clarity in the way it informs users about its handling of personal data and failed to properly obtain their consent for personalized ads.