Do I need a cookie banner in France?

Yes, if your site uses cookies or similar technologies that aren't strictly necessary — such as analytics, advertising pixels or embedded videos. Loi Informatique et Libertés, art. 82 requires consent before they run.

Which language should my banner be in for France?

Show the banner in the language of your site's audience — for France that usually means French. PrivacyPill picks the visitor's language automatically from your page and browser settings.

FR EU member state

Cookie consent rules in France

What Loi Informatique et Libertés, art. 82 and the CNIL expect from your cookie banner: when you need consent, how the reject option should look, and what has been enforced.

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Sources checked 28 October 2026. Not legal advice.

Cookie law

Loi n° 78-17 du 6 janvier 1978 relative à l'informatique, aux fichiers et aux libertés (Data Protection Act), Article 82

Regulator

Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL)

Official guidance

Recommandation « cookies et autres traceurs » (consolidated version) (2026)

Banner languages

French

Asking again

The CNIL recommends remembering both acceptance and refusal for six months (good practice, not a fixed legal limit).

What the rules say

Continuing to browse is not valid consent.
Refusing cookies must be as easy as accepting them.
Remember acceptance and refusal for about six months before asking again.
Exempt audience measurement must stay strictly limited to the publisher's own anonymous statistics.

Analytics exemption

Audience measurement can be exempt from consent if it serves only the publisher, produces anonymous statistics, isn't combined with other data, isn't passed to third parties in identifiable form and doesn't track visitors across sites.

Enforcement examples

2021
The CNIL fined Google LLC €90 million and Google Ireland €60 million for making refusal harder than acceptance on google.fr and youtube.com.
Source

How PrivacyPill handles this

Nothing optional runs before a choice. Google tags start with Consent Mode v2 set to denied; other scripts marked with data-pp-category wait until their category is allowed.
Equal first-layer buttons. "Accept all" and "Reject non-essential" sit side by side with the same weight, and a settings button lets visitors withdraw consent at any time.
Consent per purpose. Analytics, marketing and functional cookies can be allowed separately in the preferences panel.
Ask again after 6 months. Set "Remember the choice for" in the customizer to 180 days or less.
Languages. The banner ships in French, so you're covered.
Proof of consent. Every choice is logged pseudonymously with the banner version, exportable as CSV.

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Frequently asked questions

Sources

This page summarises official sources checked on 28 October 2026. It isn't legal advice; regulators update guidance, so follow the links for the current text.

Rules in nearby countries

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