The CNIL fined Microsoft up to 60 million euros, in particular for not having implemented a mechanism making it possible to refuse cookies as easily as to accept them.
After a complaint, the CNIL carried out several checks between September 2020 and May 2021 regarding the conditions for depositing cookies on Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.
Deposit of cookies without authorization
The National Commission for IT and Liberties found that cookies were placed on a user’s terminal as soon as he went to the engine, without consent. In addition, Microsoft had not implemented a button to refuse cookies as easily as to accept them.
It is up to the CNIL to sanction Microsoft Ireland with a fine of 60 million euros and to make the sanction public.
If the fine is significant, it is because the gendarme des libertés looked into the scope of the processing, the number of people concerned and not the profits that the company derives from the advertising revenues generated by the data imposed by the cookies. incriminated.
At the same time, the CNIL also gave Microsoft formal notice to make the changes as soon as possible. If the company does not put its website within three months to collect the consent of the French before depositing a cookie, it will receive a fine of 60,000 euros per day of delay.