Google Will Appeal French Privacy Fine

Google will appeal against a 150,000 euro ($205,300) fine issued by France's data-protection watchdog over how user information is tracked and stored, the U.S. search engine said on Wednesday.

The privacy watchdog, known as CNIL, had objected to Google's method of combining data collected on individual users across services such as YouTube, Gmail and social network Google+. The move towards broad storage was introduced by Google in March 2012 and combined 60 privacy policies into one.

"We've engaged fully with the CNIL throughout this process to explain our privacy policy and how it allows us to create simpler, more effective services," a Google spokesman said in an e-mailed statement.

"We're now appealing their decision." ($1 = 0.7306 euros)