Google France Home Page Now Carries Privacy Violation Notice, As Ordered

As expected, the home page of Google France now carries a notification to users that Google was fined for privacy violations relating to the “unified” privacy policy change it made in 2012. A required link to the ruling against it might also be slowing the site of the French privacy agency.

Notice Required For 2 Days

Google is appealing the ruling made against it in January, which also carried a 150,000 euro fine (about $200,000). Google had asked that the requirement to post a notice be put on hold pending the appeal, but that was denied. Hence the notice going up now.

The notice says in English, via a rough translation from Google Translate:

Release: the Restricted National Commission on Informatics and Liberties has condemned the company Google 150 000 euro fine for breaches and freedoms law. Decision reached at the following address: http://www.cnil.fr/linstitution/missions/sanctionner/Google/

The statement has to stay up for 48 hours — 2 days — and then can come down.

Link May Have Crashed French Privacy Agency Site

The statement includes a link to the ruling by the French privacy agency CNiL. I found getting the statement slow to load, which might suggest that CNiL wasn’t quite prepared for the amount of traffic a Google home page link can generate. Sometimes, the site wouldn’t load at all.

The DownForEveryoneOrJustMe service confirmed there was a problem:

Two other site checking services I tried also found it down.

Flashback: What Belgium Demanded In 2006

It’s not the first time that Google’s been ordered to post a statement like this on one of its home pages. In 2006, Google was ordered to post an entire ruling against it in a case involving copyright and Belgian newspapers for five days. The company complied, and it leaves what France ordered in the dust:

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About The Author

Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.