Noyb filed three complaints in France in September 2023 against the real‑estate app Se Loger, the fitness app My Fitness Pal and the electronics retailer Fnac Darty. The firms’ apps allegedly accessed and shared users’ personal data with third parties for analytics without giving users any choice to consent or opt‑out, enabling personalized ads and marketing. The French data protection authority (CNIL) opened an investigation into Fnac Darty in March 2024 and confirmed the illegal tracking.
According to the CNIL, Fnac Darty used a tracker placed without user consent that harvested browsing history to feed its recommendation engine and ad targeting. The regulator reiterated that processing personal data for targeted advertising requires explicit consent, and found Fnac Darty had failed to obtain it. As a result, the CNIL imposed a fine of €7 million, with a daily penalty of €10,000 for non‑compliance. Lisa Steinfeld Leiser, data‑protection lawyer at noyb, said the decision clarifies that consent is mandatory for personalized advertising and hopes it will set a tone for other illegal tracking cases.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing