France's data-protection watchdog warned on Friday that it will impose sanctions against Google, after the company missed a three-month deadline to adjust its privacy policy.

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) said it had initiated procedures to fine Google after it failed to meet a deadline to alter its latest policy on how it collects and uses data. The agency said that on the final day before the deadline, Google contested the request, "notably the applicability of the French data-protection law to the services used by residents in France".

The fine, of up to €150,000 ($203,100) is trifling by Google's standards – the search giant made $10.7bn in profits in 2012. But the fine comes as data-protection agencies in Britain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are investigating Google's privacy policy. The company is also facing pressure to adjust its privacy policy in the US.

In March 2012, Google changed its privacy policy in Europe to combine those from more than 60 services, including Gmail, Google+ and YouTube, into one. The move consolidated information collected across the services and consumer groups expressed concern that users might not want the information from those services to be connected.

CNIL said in June that Google's new privacy policy was a violation of the 1978 French data-protection act. The agency asked Google to provide clearer information about its privacy policy and to modify its data-collection tools.

In a statement on Friday, a Google spokeswoman said: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the CNIL throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward."

The French regulator's move comes in a week when a US judge ruled that Google may violate wiretap laws when it scans the e-mails of non-Gmail users. The ruling will allow a class action lawsuit against the company, backed by privacy advocates, to move forward.

Judge Lucy Koh also ruled that Google's privacy agreements were less than explicit. "A reasonable Gmail user who read the Privacy Policies would not have necessarily understood that her e-mails were being intercepted to create user profiles or to provide targeted advertisements," she wrote.