France threatens Google over data protection breaches

France's data protection watchdog said today it would take action against US giant Google for failing to comply with national privacy guidelines.

The CNIL said Google had failed to comply with data protection guidelines within a three-month deadline and said it would begin a formal sanction procedure, under which the US company could be fined up to USD 205,000.

CNIL had asked Google to inform users in France on how it processes their personal data and to define how long they can keep the information.

It had also requested the US giant obtain users' permission before storing cookies in their terminal, referring to files that track netizens and allow companies to target them with commercials.