France's data-protection authority fined telecommunications group Orange 50 million euros ($52.8 million) for displaying unsolicited advertisements in the inboxes of users of its email service.

Orange said Tuesday that it contests the sanction, calling the amount of the fine disproportionate. The company intends to appeal the decision before France's highest administrative court, the State Council, it said.

The French regulator, known as CNIL, said the company displayed ads in the form of emails in its users' inboxes. It added that an investigation showed Orange's website kept reading cookies after users withdrew consent, and ordered it to stop the practice within three months or face a fine of 100,000 euros a day overdue.

The regulator said the amount of the fine was decided on the basis of the number of people affected, with more than 7.8 million having seen the adds in their email inboxes.

Orange said the actions sanctioned don't involve a violation of data security but reflect common market practices that don't engage any exploitation of customers' personal data.

Write to Najat Kantouar at [email protected]