Since last year, the lawsuit against Google has been dragging on and now it looks like the tech giant has nowhere else to run.
Recently, France's Supreme Court of Administrative Law rejected an appeal by Google over the $57 million fine imposed last year for failing to tell its users how their personal information is used.
In the middle of last year, in June, the French Council of State officially released the results of its tests, confirming the results of the previous investigation by the data regulator CNIL, that Google did not provide Android users with "clear enough" warnings about how your data was used.
This means that there was no legal consent to use user data for specific advertising. Considering the seriousness and continuity of Google's violations (which continue to this day), the $57 million fine is also justified.
More importantly, the court also upheld the French national regulatory authority's jurisdiction over Google.
Based on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulations, the multi-million dollar fines imposed on Google are by far the highest fines ever imposed on the company.
Rejecting the appeal will also have symbolic meaning, particularly for those wondering whether or not the GDPR plays its role properly.
While that fine seems insignificant relative to the overall revenue of Google's parent company Alphabet. Google will make such adjustments in the future. It will work on how to collect user data and your advertising placement results.
Under GDPR, if the company uses the user's personal data, it must obtain personal consent. That is, it cannot be mandatory. This was also the fundamental basis for the French court's decision.
A Google spokesperson issued the following statement in response to the French court's decision:
“People expect to understand and control how personal data is used. We currently invest in industry-leading tools to help achieve these two points.
In this case, it is not about demanding consent, but about how to obtain consent. In line with this decision, Google will also review what other changes need to be made internally."
In addition, French digital rights organization La Quadrature du Net's earlier lawsuit against the estimate also announced the same-day victory, which is the first in a series of sanctions that GDPR poses for 12.000 citizens against the tech giant.
The spokesperson said:
"Complaints against Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft are still being investigated in Ireland. Regardless of the results, this is the original intent of the GDPR and a commitment to the public."
