Microsoft has been fined 60 million euros in France for the way its search engine Bing handles cookies. These are small pieces of software left on users’ computers by websites that allow them to monitor those consumers.
According to the French privacy watchdog, Bing placed these cookies on the computer without notification, which is prohibited if they are used for advertising purposes.
The search engine also lacked a button that users could use to indicate that they do not appreciate cookies. Both cases led to a fine.
This makes Microsoft the umpteenth tech company fined by the French regulator. This year, Google was already fined 150 million euros, and Facebook had to pay 60 million euros.
Microsoft has been given three months to handle cookies better. The American company says that it has fully cooperated with the investigation and has already made essential adjustments.
