CNIL is sticking to its guns. The independent authority has followed its rapporteur’s observations and fined SHEIN €150 million for failing to comply with the rules applicable to cookies management on its website.
This summer, the CNIL looked into the case of INFINITE STYLES SERVICES CO. LIMITED, the Irish subsidiary of the SHEIN group, and it didn’t pull any punches.
Founded in 2008, the fast-fashion brand specializing in low-cost ready-to-wear clothing has been hugely successful.
The Chinese giant now attracts many customers, particularly in Europe, where its model is regularly criticized on environmental, social, and legal grounds.
In August 2023, the CNIL carried out checks on the “shein.com” website and found several breaches to the main principles applicable related to cookies.
Small in size but big in terms of the penalties they incur, cookies are one of the authority’s main areas of focus, and it has reiterated their importance by fining the Irish company INFINITE STYLES SERVICES CO. LIMITED, a subsidiary of the group, €150 million.
The penalty imposed on September 1, 2025, targeted several of the brand’s practices that contravened French law, in particular the failure to obtain the consent of website users prior to placing trackers on their devices.
The CNIL found that users were subject to several trackers (cookies) before they could even express their preferences.
Furthermore, despite the presence of several tracker management banners on the site, the CNIL considered them incomplete because they did not disclose the advertising purpose of cookies to users.
The commission also identified flaws in the opt-out mechanisms.
As expected, the company has already indicated that it will appeal the decision.
To be continued…