France wants nine-figure fine for Shein over unauthorised cookies

Shein may face a fine of up to 150 million euros in France, as a privacy watchdog said the platform failed to comply with rules around the use of cookies. The Chinese company considers the amount to be “disproportionate”.

Negligent behaviour

French privacy watchdog CNIL is demanding that Shein be fined 150 million euros, as the Chinese fashion platform placed advertising cookies without users’ consent. Moreover, the way consent was requested was confusing: even if users refused cookies, they were still placed. The breaches were discovered during an audit in August 2023.

According to CNIL, this was negligent behaviour: the watchdog says the platform had sufficient technology and staff to comply with the rules. Initially, the privacy commission even wanted to demand a penalty payment of 100,000 euros per day. That has been taken off the table, as the platform has changed its practices since then.

“Since August 2023, we have been actively working with the CNIL to ensure our compliance and answer questions”, Shein told French press agency AFP. According to Sonia Cissé, Shein’s lawyer, the amount requested is “completely disproportionate”.