Shein hit with €150m fine for illegal use of cookies in France
The French data protection authority CNIL has imposed a record fine of €150 million on Chinese fast fashion giant Shein. The online retailer reportedly violated European cookie and privacy regulations on its French website in a major way.
CNIL’s tests in August 2023 revealed that Shein continued to set cookies even when users had explicitly refused them. This practice breaches the GDPR, the European law designed to protect consumers from unwanted data collection.
Under the GDPR, cookies are considered personal data because they identify and track Internet users for targeted advertising purposes. Websites are therefore required to ask for clear consent in advance and to respect users’ choices. According to the authority, Shein failed on several counts: no valid consent, disregard for cookie settings, and insufficient information about how cookies were used.
The amount of the fine was directly related to Shein’s enormous reach: around 12 million French users visit the webshop every month. The company called the penalty “disproportionate” and announced plans to appeal.
Shein stressed that it has introduced new measures since August 2023 to comply with privacy rules. The retailer also insinuated that the CNIL’s decision was more politically motivated than purely legal.
The case comes at a time when France is cracking down more strictly on fast fashion. There is even a bill on the table that could ban companies like Shein from advertising in the country. The €150 million fine represents roughly 2% of the €7.68 billion in revenue generated by Shein’s European entity in 2023.
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