Information
France court rules Google must comply with publication notice
France's State Council, the country's top administrative court, ruled on Friday that Google must display on its French page that it has been fined by the local data-protection watchdog for how they store user information. Google has stated that it will comply with the order, but will continue to fight the fine of €150,000 from the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL). Google appealed the fine and the publication notice earlier this month.
Google has faced international criticism for alleged privacy violations. Spain, the UK, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have all filed similar lawsuits claiming that Google has violated local consumer protection laws. Earlier this month the UK High Court ruled that Google can be sued by British citizens. In November the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) stated that Google was in violation of the country's data protection act. Earlier that month the Regional Court of Berlin held that 25 of Google's privacy policies and terms of service violated Germany's data protection law. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied Google's motion to dismiss a lawsuit regarding the company's alleged violation of federal law.
(Published by Jurist – February 7, 2014)