France’s competition watchdog has fined Google $593 million (€500 million) for failing to negotiate with media companies over the use of their content. The fine is the latestattempt to make Google pay news organizationsfor displaying their content in search results. In 2020, France’s Competition Authority ordered the company to negotiate an agreement on remuneration for showing snippets of articles on Google News. Publishers alleged that the firm had failed to open the talks in “good faith,”Reuters reports....

France’s privacy watchdog has handed Google its largest fine ever for breaching the privacy of French citizens by collecting and storing sensitive data from neighbourhood Wi-Fi networks using its Street View cars. CNBC reportsthat the €100,000 ($141,300) fine is the first of its kind for Google. Over 30 countries have complained about the way Google went about collecting personal data which included emails, visited websites and other sensitive information including banking details and passwords....

France is one of the latest nations looking to offer a cash-for-clunkers incentive to get people out of their cars and onto more sustainable means of transport. The European nation is offering residents €2,500 ($2,975) to trade in their old emission spewing car, and get an electric bicycle. Yes, an electric bicycle. [Read more:The biggest tech trends of 2021, according to 3 founders] It’s not set in stone just yet, though....

Is this the beginning of the end for the CHAdeMO electric vehicle charging standard? Its days certainly look numbered, in France at least. Earlier this month, the French governmentamended a 2017 regulation, ending the requirement that all new DC fast-chargers must offer aCHAdeMOconnector. Instead, all new chargers will have to offer the significantly more widely used CCS connector for fast DC charging or Type 2 connector for standard AC charging....

On March 1, the French governmentregulatedthat Internet companies must keep their users’ data for a year, and make them available to the authorities when subpoenaed. These data include anything used to identify a user and allow her to use a web service, i.e., ID, password, name, email addresses, as well as postal address and phone number when available. This applies to video and music sharing sites, as well as e-commerce....