The French company Criteo, at the forefront of advertising retargeting, could experience a major disappointment in 2023: its practices expose it to a fine of 60 million euros.
2023 does not look auspicious for Criteo. The French company Criteo, whose specialty is advertising retargeting, could indeed be sanctioned by a very heavy fine. We are talking about an amount that would reach 60 million euros. The investigation, however, is still ongoing and the contours of the future decision are not fixed for good.
Prospects of a Criteo conviction were immediately welcomed by organizations hostile to ad tracking, such as Privacy International, which initiated the lawsuit against Criteo in 2018, or Squaring the Net. ” No kudos to the startup nation “, tweeted the French organization on August 6, in a tackle to Criteo, while congratulating its British counterpart.
The games are not completely done, but La Quadrature du Net does not believe in a turn of events in 2023, even if the investigation continues for a few more months. It is the observation of Bastien Le Querrecdoctoral student in public law and member of La Quadrature du Net, who believes that the action initiated by the National Commission for Computing and Liberties will go all the way.
A conflict born four years ago
While Privacy International initiated hostilities against Criteo four years ago, the CNIL’s investigations only started in 2020. The British NGO recalled on the occasion of this progress report – the rapporteur in this dossier released a report on August 3 alleging various breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — the blame against Criteo.
For Privacy International, Criteo is a “ manipulating machine “. He is accused of tracking browsing behavior to try to predict the public’s propensity to go to a particular product and what types of advertising work best. ” Criteo [est une entreprise] you’ve probably never heard of, but you can be sure they know all about YOU. »
” All of this is achieved by collecting dizzying amounts of data about people’s activities, and buying data from other companies [de l’industrie publicitaire] and data brokers. It’s all illegal, we argued “, continues the NGO. It’s ” invasive and illegal profiling of Internet users », adds La Quadrature du Net.
Criteo has a very different assessment of the situation. In a press release which is intended as a reaction to the elements released on August 3, the French company obviously brushed aside the criticisms leveled against it, just as it largely disputed the conclusions of the report. But in doubt, the company began to provision a sum.
” We believe that the substance of this report is fundamentally flawed and that the proposed sanctions are disproportionate to the alleged non-compliance actions. “, declared the group’s legal director, Ryan Damon. The company remains at the disposal of the CNIL to continue to exchange and assert its interests. Verdict in a year.