Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been hit with a 746 million euros ($887 million) fine by a European privacy watchdog. The tech giant was alleged of breaching the bloc’s data protection laws.
The company disclosed the fine on Friday in a securities filing that Luxembourg’s privacy regulator issued two weeks ago. The Luxembourg National Commission for Data protection announced that the processing of personal data by Amazon didn’t comply with the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe. Furthermore, the watchdogs obliged Amazon to re-adjust several undisclosed business practices.
The e-commerce tech giant’s headquarters in Luxembourg denied the breach or the violation of any GDPR rules.
“Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. “There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party,” they added.
“These facts are undisputed. We strongly disagree with the CNPD’s ruling, and we intend to appeal. The decision relating to how we show customers relevant advertising relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation.”
