France hits Google with Rs. 404 cr data consent fine
Paris, Jan 21: France's data watchdog on Monday announced a fine of 50 million euros (USD 57 million) for US search giant Google, using the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the first time.
Google was handed the record fine from the CNIL regulator for failing to provide transparent and easily accessible information on its data consent policies, a statement said.
The CNIL said Google made it too difficult for users to understand and manage preferences on how their personal information is used, in particular with regards to targeted advertising.
"People expect high standards of transparency and control from us. We're deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements of the GDPR," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
"We're studying the decision to determine our next steps." The ruling follows complaints lodged by two advocacy groups last May, shortly after the landmark GDPR directive came into effect.
One was filed on behalf of some 10,000 signatories by France's Quadrature du Net group, while the other was by None Of Your Business, created by the Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems.
Schrems had accused Google of securing "forced consent" via its Android mobile operating software through the use of pop-up boxes online or on its apps which imply that its services will not be available unless the conditions of use are accepted.
"Also, the information provided is not sufficiently clear for the user to understand that the legal basis for targeted advertising is consent, and not Google's legitimate business interests," the CNIL said.
"We have found that large corporations such as Google simply 'interpret the law differently' and have often only superficially adapted their products," Schrems said in a statement after the ruling.
"It is important that the authorities make it clear that simply claiming to be compliant is not enough."
The GDPR is widely considered the biggest shake-up to data privacy regulations since the advent of the web.
Even companies which are not based in Europe must follow the tough new rules if they want their sites and services to be available to European users.
The CNIL found that despite changes implemented by Google since last year, it was still failing to respect the spirit of the new rules.
It noted for example that specifics on how long a person's data is kept and what it is used for are spread across several different web pages.
Modifying a user's data preferences also requires clicking through a variety of pages such as "More Options", and often the choices to accept Google's terms are pre-checked by default.
"This type of procedure leads the user to give global consent... but the consent is not 'specific' as the GDPR requires," the regulator said.
It said the record 50-million-euro fine reflected the seriousness of the failings as well as Google's dominant market position in France via Android.
"Each day thousands of French users create a Google account on their smartphones," the CNIL said.
"As a result the company has a special responsibility when it comes to respecting their obligations in this domain," it said.
It is not the first time the regulator has taken Google to task over its policies.
In 2014 it fined the company 150,000 euros the maximum possible at the time for failing to comply with its privacy guidelines for personal data.
And in 2016 it imposed a 100,000-euro penalty over non-compliance with the EU's "right to be forgotten" rule, allowing people to request having references to them removed from search results.
Google has contested the decision, saying it should apply only to its European sites, such as Google.fr, and not the global Google.com domain.
Earlier this month the advocate general for the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg sided with Google in the case, though a final ruling has not yet been announced.
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Bengaluru: In a significant move towards enhancing disaster preparedness, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), in collaboration with UNICEF, launched the Karnataka State Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap (KSDRR) 2025-2030 on Monday, marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
With this initiative, Karnataka has become the fifth state in India to launch the Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap, following Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Assam, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The new roadmap is designed to mitigate the impact of natural disasters and reduce the state’s vulnerability. Over the past five years, Karnataka has suffered an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore in losses due to floods, droughts, lightning, hailstorms, fire, and other calamities. Addressing these challenges, Mullai Muhilan, Director of KSNDMC, emphasised that the goal of the KSDRR is to implement a systematic approach to preventing and managing such disasters.
“The theme on this day is ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters’, and that is why this roadmap is a framework of existing solutions to reduce and prevent losses by mitigating floods, drought, earthquakes, heat waves and so on,” TNIE quoted Muhilan as saying.
The KSDRR outlines a multi-phase strategy, which includes a vulnerability profile of Karnataka, highlights DRR developments, initiatives taken in the state, financial arrangements, and defines the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders as per the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The roles and responsibilities, work implementation in the road map are based on three major milestones divided to achieve in five years. All departments, gram panchayats have prepared disaster management plans with latest data as baseline information.
In milestone 2 for the year 2027-28, the roadmap envisions that the state has to collaborate and partner with various stake holders from local to global level. In milestone 3, for the year 2029-30, it mentions reducing infrastructure damage, human and animal deaths, casualties by 75%.
“Currently, KSNDMC has applications including Varuna Mitra, dedicated mainly to providing weather forecast to farmers across the state. Similarly, we have Megha Sandesha, a mobile app developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science. This app was created to mitigate urban floods and it provides information to various government bodies especially BWSSB, and others. We are still working on this app to provide information and data to BDA, GBA on the areas that might flood in the future. They can use this data before giving clearance to buildings of layouts,” explained Muhilan.
As part of the roadmap, several government departments have been directed to work towards risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection, and resilient recovery. For instance, the Education Department will be responsible for developing school-level disaster management plan.
The roadmap also outlines a robust infrastructure for real-time disaster monitoring. Karnataka has already installed 6,500 telemetric rain gauge stations at the gram panchayat level, alongside 850 telemetric weather stations at the taluk level. Other installations include lightning and thunderstorm sensors, water level sensors in Bengaluru and surrounding cities, and seismic sensors at major dam sites.
