Google is facing fresh criticism in Europe for its collection of users’ personal data.

Just weeks after getting hit with a record $22.5 million U.S. fine for Internet privacy violations, Google is facing fresh criticism in Europe for its collection of users’ personal data. In an Oct. 16 ruling , France’s privacy-rights regulator said Google’snew privacy policy violated European data-protection rules. Google failed to set “any limit concerning the scope of the collection and the potential uses of the personal data,” and gave users inadequate means to opt out, the agency said. France could impose fines on Google within “three to four months” if the policy is not modified, said Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, chairwoman of the regulator, known as the CNIL. Last March, Google established a uniform privacy policy covering more than 60 services, including Google searches, YouTube, and Gmail. In a statement e-mailed after the decision, Google’s global privacy counselPeter Fleischer said thecompany was “confident that our privacy notices respectEuropean law.” Although other countries are not bound by France’s action, they’re likely tofollow its lead in demanding that Google revamp the policy. EU authorities had asked the CNIL toconduct the review, and the French findings were reviewedin advance by European national regulators and by data-protection authorities in anada, Australia, and several Asian countries. If Google refuses to modify its policy, it would be “almost certain to increase anyfine that the regulatorsmay wish to impose,” says Chris Watson, head of the telecommunications practice at the law firm of CMS Cameron McKenna in London. The ruling comes 10 weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined Google $22.5 million—the biggest fine in the agency’s history—to settle charges thatit breached privacy protections on Apple’s Safari Internet browser. The FTC said Google illegally planted cookies in Safari, bypassing Appleprivacy settings so thatGoogle could track users’ browsing behavior. The French decision also could create headaches for Google as it faces scrutiny by U.S. and European antitrust regulators. EU anti-monopoly authorities in 2010 opened an investigation of the company that is still ongoing.