Google tickled with TINY fine from French privacy watchdog

Google's failure to comply with France's data protection law over the ad giant's 2012 privacy policy tweak has landed it with a minuscule fine of just €150,000. In September, Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) warned Google that it would face a monetary penalty after it refused to comply with the …

[Philip Lewis]

The standard MO of Google is, and always has been, to brazenly flout laws which they do not like. No monetary penalty can hurt them, apparently. There is no news here, and it has been going on for a very,very long time.

Even the full weight of EU punishment when meted out is only 10% of Global revenue, which Google could swallow without very much pain, as MS also did.

[Uncle Slacky]

Yep - it's just "the cost of doing business" - just like JP Morgan et al.

[ItsNotMe]

Seriously? 150k?

There is probably MORE than that lost under the couch cushions at the Chocolate Factory's headquarters.

[heyrick]

Jesus, France...

Rather than trying to squeeze huge amounts of cash from your country's wealthy, why not levy a fine of substance from a (rich) (foreign) company that is openly flouting your laws?

That Spain demanded close to a million and you... how much? HOW MUCH? I think some worried Google bean counter pissed him/herself when that "fine" was handed out, especially if it was done in complete sincerity with the France-burning-torch letterhead and rubber stamps in triplicate and everything.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Kelly

Kelly, what you seem to be ignoring is that the maximum penalties that can be levied are set by law, and in this (and most) cases, they are not dependent on how wealthy the transgressor is.

[Pascal Monett]

Penalty laws in France are ridiculous for multinationals

It's like oil barges - the penalty for degassing in the high seas is less than the cost of doing so in the proper fashion. No points for guessing where all the oil slicks come from.

It really is high time that France and some other countries stop treating multinationals like movie stars and get gritty when it is required.

The issue is law, of course, but it is also the idea that, if you're actually going to levy a heavy fine, the company could up roots and go somewhere less costly, thus "taking away" their business. Well the facts are that they'll do that anyway whenever it suits them, so fine the buggers with a heavy hand and at least get something out of them.