France fines Google and Shein record hundreds of millions of euros over cookies

France Slaps Google & Shein with Mega-Fines: What Malta’s Cookie Pop-up Chaos Could Mean for Us

By now every Maltese smartphone addict has done the dance: you open a new site, a Technicolor banner erupts—“We value your privacy!”—and before you can tap “Accept All,” your thumb has already sold your digital soul. Yesterday, France decided the jig is up. The CNIL, Paris’ data-protection watchdog, slammed Google with a €150 million penalty and fast-fashion giant Shein with €60 million for making it “far too difficult” to refuse tracking cookies. While the fines landed along the Seine, the shockwaves are being felt just as keenly along the Sliema front.

Malta’s context: small island, big data
With only 516,000 residents, Malta punches above its weight in online traffic. We rank among Europe’s top per-capita e-commerce spenders, and our sunny lifestyle keeps us scrolling fashion apps like Shein at 1 a.m. after a Paceville night out. But our size also makes us irresistible to data brokers: a single leaked dataset can map half the island. The Malta Digital Innovation Authority has long warned that lax cookie practices expose locals to hyper-targeted scams—think “exclusive Valletta flat raffle” ads that harvest ID numbers.

Cultural nerve touched
Ask any Maltese person about “cookies” and they’ll probably mention imqaret first. Yet in the past decade the word has acquired a second, more sinister flavour. The French rulings feed into a growing Mediterranean scepticism about Big Tech. In parish halls from Żebbuġ to Għaxaq, priests now joke about “digital indulgences” during Sunday homilies—penance for our browsing sins. Meanwhile, carnival troupes are already sketching 2024 floats: expect a giant smartphone wielding a biscuit-shaped fishing rod, reeling in tiny citizens.

Community impact: from start-ups to nanna’s tablet
1. Local start-ups sweating bullets
Maltese fintech and iGaming start-ups rely heavily on granular user analytics. The French precedent raises the compliance bar across the EU, meaning a St Julian’s app studio could face similar fines if its cookie banner is deemed manipulative. “We’re rushing audits,” says Maria Camilleri, COO of indie gaming house PixelPirates. “One mis-designed pop-up could wipe out our runway.”

2. Consumer empowerment—finally
The Malta Competition & Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) tells Hot Malta it is “actively monitoring” the French decisions. Translation: expect clearer “Reject All” buttons on Maltese sites within weeks. Consumer groups are already planning TikTok explainers in Maltese and English, showing nannas how to click “no” without fear of breaking Facebook.

3. The influencer reckoning
Shein’s €60 million fine is personal for Malta’s fashion influencers, many of whom unbox €3 bikinis on Instagram. The brand’s Malta warehouse in Ħal Far has become a daily pilgrimage site for content creators. Now, with regulators circling, influencers must disclose if their haul links drop tracking cookies that follow viewers to the Gozo ferry app. “Transparency is the new tan,” quips local TikToker @Maltarella, who has 120 k followers.

4. Public sector wake-up call
Even government portals risk scrutiny. Last year, a University of Malta study found that 62 % of state websites lacked a simple “reject” option. With Brussels signalling zero tolerance, the Department of Information is scrambling to update its cookie policy before the next school-enrolment portal crash.

The bottom line
France’s record fines are not just Parisian paperwork; they’re a Mediterranean alarm bell. For Malta—a nation where family WhatsApp groups and cross-border gaming sites coexist—the message is clear: privacy is no longer an optional topping like ġbejniet on ftira. Whether you’re a Gozitan artisan shipping lace through Shein’s marketplace or a Birżebbuga teen coding the next viral app, the cookie jar is closing. And if regulators can tame giants like Google, our tiny island has no place to hide.

The takeaway? Next time that rainbow pop-up appears, spare a thought for the €210 million just evaporated across the water. Then hit “Reject All” with Maltese pride—and maybe reward yourself with an actual imqaret.