Amazon fined record $887 million for flouting EU General Data Protection Rules

Amazon was fined whopping $887 million (approximately €746mn) by Luxembourg authorities for allegedly flouting EU General Data Protection Rules (GDPR). The fine was imposed by the lead privacy watchdog, Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) on July 16, Amazon informed. It sought the 'highest possible fine' for Amazon's use of data for behavioral analyses & targeted ads without consent.

Amazon on July 30, Friday, claimed that the findings in a regulatory filing were “without a merit", Bloomberg reported. The SEC document produced by Amazon has not divulged intricate details about the case. Amazon in its statement mentioned that it was sued by a European consumer group claiming personal data was collected for ad targeting without permission. It was the latest case of US tech firms being hit by violations of the EU data protection law known as GDPR. 

Amazon refutes claims of data breach

The tech giant's failure to comply with the EU GDPR has led the Luxembourg-based data protection regulations to order Amazon to revise certain undisclosed business practices. However, the practice revisions are not detailed in the filings. Meanwhile, the company refuted claims of data breach and exposure to the third party, Amazon said in a statement, "These facts are undisputed." "We strongly disagree with the CNPD’s ruling,” it added in its statement with an indication to appeal against the ruling.

Amazon slapped with GDPR violation for the second time

In 2018, a probe against the multimillion dollar company was initiated after French privacy rights group La Quadrature du Net filed a complaint against Amazon for the data breach. Following the current incident, Bastien Le Querrec, a member of the litigation team of La Quadrature welcomed the lawsuit against the tech company. As per reports, Querrec said that the fine could be effective in diverting a particular course of action. However, he ensured to be vigilant to see if it includes revisal of Amazon's infringing behaviour. The previous highest GDPR penalty, a €50 million fine for Google, also originated from a complaint from the French group.

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