Google and Meta Platforms told Mobile World Live (MWL) they developing and improve cookie consent controls after a French regulator fined them for respective failures to simplify rejection of the tracking system.

The Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) fined Meta Platforms Ireland (formerly Facebook Ireland) €60 million, with Google and its Irish subsidiary sanctioned a total of €150 million.

CNIL acted because various of the companies’ websites did not offer one-click cookie rejection, but provided such a set-up for acceptance. It gave the companies three months to address the disparity, with daily fines of €100,000 possible if the businesses do not comply.

The regulator claimed the inability to easily refuse cookies impacts a user’s choice and therefore affects freedom of consent, infringing domestic data protection laws.

A Google representative told MWL users “trust us to respect their right to privacy and keep them safe”.

“We understand our responsibility to protect that trust and are committing to further changes and active work with the CNIL in light of this decision under the ePrivacy Directive”.

A representative for Meta Platforms explained it is “committed to working with relevant authorities” as it reviews the decision, highlighting a new settings menu on Facebook and Instagram which allows users to manage their cookie settings: “We continue to develop and improve these controls”.

CNIL noted the button allowing Meta users to reject cookies is titled accept, and is not on the first page viewed when visiting the site.