Google and Facebook have both been hit with massive fines by France’s privacy watchdog, due to the way both companies handle cookies.

CNIL hit Google with a whopping A$273 million fine, with Facebook given a more lenient A$84 million penalty.

Both companies now have three months “to provide internet users located in France with a means of refusing cookies as simple as the existing means of accepting them, in order to guarantee their freedom of consent.”

If they don’t, both companies risk being hit with additional fines of A$158,000 a day.

Failing to do so will come with the risk of an additional daily fine of 100,000 euros, CNIL said in the statement.

Google said in a statement that “people trust us to respect their right to privacy and keep them safe” and it will meet its “responsibility to protect that trust and are committing to further changes and active work with the CNIL in light of this decision under the European Union’s e-privacy rules.”

Facebook said: “Our cookie consent controls provide people with greater control over their data, including a new settings menu on Facebook and Instagram where people can revisit and manage their decisions at any time, and we continue to develop and improve these controls.”