By Sam Schechner

Alphabet Inc.'s Google was fined 50 million euros ($57 million) by a French regulator--the biggest penalty levied yet under a new European privacy law--alleging the search-engine giant didn't go far enough to get valid user consent to gather data for targeted advertising.

The fine represents one of the highest profile regulatory actions stemming from the European Union's "General Data Protection Regulation," which went into effect in 2018. The law requires companies to abide by strict data-protection and privacy rules protecting consumers in Europe.

A big part of the new rules is that companies must explain to users how their data is being collected and used and in many cases, seek consent from users to collect it.

"People expect high standards of transparency and control from us. We're deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements of the GDPR. We're studying the decision to determine our next steps," a Google spokesman said.

Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2019 11:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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