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noyb win: French electronics retailer Fnac Darty fined €7M

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The penalty stems from a formal complaint initiated by the privacy advocacy group noyb in September 2023, which accused Fnac Darty and other operators of harvesting personal data instantly upon app launch. Regulators opened a formal probe in March 2024 and confirmed the mobile app deployed third-party trackers without giving shoppers any option to opt out. Fnac Darty now faces an ongoing €10,000 daily penalty if it fails to adhere to the CNIL's decision.

Key points

  • Regulators affirmed that gathering personal consumer data for targeted advertising strict…: Regulators affirmed that gathering personal consumer data for targeted advertising strictly mandates prior user permission.
  • Advocacy group noyb intends for the regulatory penalty to serve as a strong precedent aga…: Advocacy group noyb intends for the regulatory penalty to serve as a strong precedent against unauthorized tracking practices.
  • The enforcement impacts one of the largest electronics retailers operating across France,…: The enforcement impacts one of the largest electronics retailers operating across France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Today, the French data protection authority has fined Fnac Darty (one of the largest electronics retailers in France) €7 million for illegally using third-party trackers on its mobile app without consent. The fine is the result of a noyb complaint filed in 2023. In addition to France, Fnac Darty is also active in countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Background. In September 2023, noyb filed three complaints in France against the real estate app SeLoger, the fitness app MyFitnessPal and the electronics retail chain Fnac Darty. The reason: The companies’ apps illegally accessed and shared users’ personal data with third parties for sophisticated analytics as soon as the apps were opened. Users didn’t even have the choice to consent to or prevent the sharing of their data. Such extensive data collection allows the profiling of users in order to show them personalized ads and marketing campaigns to increase the revenue for the mentioned companies.

CNIL investigation into Fnac. Following these noyb complaints, the French data protection authority (CNIL) launched its own investigation into Fnac Darty in March…

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