GOOGLE has been hit with an unprecedented fine by a French data protection watchdog over allegations that the internet giant illegally collected and used personal data.

The US transnational was fined €50 million (£44.9m) by French data protection agency CNIL after a petition by France’s Quadrature du Net group and None Of Your Business, an NGO which advocates consumer privacy, attracted about 10,000 signatures.

Investigations discovered two breaches of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that came into force last year, modernising laws that protect individuals’ personal information.

CNIL found that Google does not provide easy access to the data it collects from users and that the information the company does provide is often incomprehensible.

According to the watchdog, these obstacles made it difficult for individuals to manage how their personal data is used, particularly regarding targeted advertising. 

Google failed to meet its legal obligations under the GDPR regulations as the default settings for users is to “consent” to the use of their information.

However, the GDPR legislation has itself come in for criticism, by many warning that, despite its proclaimed purpose, it is designed to hinder trade unions and campaign groups from functioning effectively and accessing information.

In Romania, a team of investigative journalists trying to expose corruption have been threatened with a €20m (£175.m) fine if they did not cease publication of a series of articles, give access to all related data and reveal their sources.

CNIR sources said the size of the record fine was due to the “severity of the infringements observed” and Google’s position in the French market.

The company insisted that it complied with the law and confirmed that an appeal against the decision would be filed.