Microsoft has been hit with a €60 million fine by the French data protection agency, CNIL, for not offering an opt-out for cookies on its Bing search engine, according to the
Wall Street Journal. In addition, CNIL will fine Microsoft €60,000 per day within three months if it doesn’t ask users for consent to use an ad fraud detection cookie.
Bing users will be glad to know that Microsoft now lets you opt out of cookies on Bing if that’s what you want, however, the company is undecided about what to do about the fraud detection cookie. A spokesperson for the company said Microsoft is “concerned with the CNIL’s position on advertising fraud” and that these types of cookies “shouldn’t require consent by those intending to defraud others.”
Microsoft could attempt to appeal the decision about the fraud detection cookies but if it takes no action then it faces a daily fine. If an appeal goes in favour of CNIL, then Microsoft would be forced to ask for consent to employ these cookies too.
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