The fine was issued July 16 by the Luxembourg National
Commission for Data Protection following its determination that "Amazon's
processing of personal data did not comply with the EU General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR)," Amazon said in a securities filing.
"We believe the CNPD's decision to be without merit and
intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter," the company added,
using the organization's French acronym.
The fine was believed to be the largest ever for a data
protection violation since the passage of the regulation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) document
offered no details, but Amazon was sued by a European consumer group claiming
personal data was collected for ad targeting without permission.
The Luxembourg agency confirmed that it made a ruling this
month on Amazon but declined to elaborate, saying its investigations are
confidential.
It was the latest case of US tech firms being hit with
violations of the landmark GDPR.
French authorities fined Amazon EUR 35 million last year for
failing to follow laws on browser "cookies" that track users. Google
was hit with a fine of EUR 100 million for similar violations.
Facebook is under investigation in Ireland after details on
533 million users were leaked on a hacking website
Under the GDPR, which came into effect in 2018, internet
users have a wider range of rights relating to their data.
Regulators have been armed with new powers including the
ability to fine firms up to four percent of their annual global turnover.
The GDPR has resulted in fines imposed not only on
technology firms but marketers, data brokers, Austria's postal service and even
the Spanish football association, La Liga.
Amazon made the disclosure as part of its quarterly update
which showed profits jumped 48 percent from a year ago to $7.8 billion and
revenues increased 27 percent to $113.1 billion in the April-June period.
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