France鈥檚 largest internet operator Orange was on Tuesday slapped with a 50-million-euro ($53-million) fine for sending unsolicited adverts resembling emails to customers.
Orange is the successor to France鈥檚 monopoly telephone operator and remains the leading telecommunications firm, with a popular email service.
鈥業nternet access and email service provider Orange used its email service to introduce advertisements鈥� that resembled emails in customers鈥� message feeds, said Louis Dutheillet de Lamothe, deputy head of France鈥檚 privacy watchdog CNIL.
Advertisers in France are required to obtain permission before sending material to a person鈥檚 email address, and CNIL considered Orange鈥檚 actions were equivalent to that even if users鈥� addresses were not used to display the ads between their emails.