PARIS: Online fast-fashion retailer Shein has received a €150mil (US$175.61mil) fine from France’s data protection authority over the improper use of cookies, a decision the company contested and says it would appeal.

Additionally, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, a government body charged with enforcing consumer data protection, said Shein’s website failed to comply with regulations in collecting consumers’ data without consent.

When users browsing Shein’s French site opted out of cookies – small files that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual users and track their browsing habits – some were still found to be placed on the user’s computer regardless, the commission said in a statement detailing a test it conducted on the site in August 2023. — Reuters