Facebook hit with maximum fine from French watchdog

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has landed itself a maximum fine of 150,000 euros from the French data protection watchdog.

Watchdog CNIL said that the fine was for failing to prevent its users’ data being accessed by advertisers. The breaches include tracking users across websites other than Facebook without their knowledge, whilst also compiling a large database of personal information to make it easier to target advertising.

The social media giant argued that the Irish data protection authority, not the CNIL, had the total responsibility to make such calls and implement fines to the social media network, as the social media company’s European headquarters are located in Dublin, not France.

“We take note of the CNIL’s decision with which we respectfully disagree,” Facebook said in a statement.

“At Facebook, putting people in control of their privacy is at the heart of everything we do. Over recent years, we’ve simplified our policies further to help people understand how we use information to make Facebook better,” they added.

The watchdog said that its investigation of the social media giant also extended to other parts of Europe including Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.

Whilst the watchdog imposed the maximum fine of €150,000 it is clearly not even a dent in Facebook’s revenues at just 25 minutes of its profits when the group’s stock market capitalization stands at around $435 billion.

Last year, the French watchdog gave the social media giant a deadline to stop tracking web activity without the user’s consent and ordered Facebook to stop some transfers of personal data to the United States.

From the end of May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will introduce a new set of privacy rules across the EU’s 28 states, which will raise the fines to €20 million or four percent of the worldwide revenue.