see url:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/amazon-given-record-888-million-eu-fine-for-data-privacy-breach
see full story...
Quote<<<
Amazon.com Inc. faces the biggest ever European Union privacy fine after
its lead privacy watchdog hit it with a 746 million-euro ($888 million)
penalty for violating the bloc’s tough data protection rules.
CNPD, the Luxembourg data protection authority slapped Amazon with the
record fine in a July 16 decision that accused the online retailer of
processing personal data in violation of the EU’s General Data
Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Amazon disclosed the findings in a
regulatory filing on Friday, saying the decision is “without merit.”
“There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to
any third party,” Amazon said in a statement, adding that it plans to
appeal. “These facts are undisputed. We strongly disagree with the
CNPD’s ruling.”
The decision concludes a probe started by a 2018 complaint from French
privacy rights group La Quadrature du Net. It cautiously welcomed the
decision.
“It’s a first step to see a fine that’s dissuasive, but we need to
remain vigilant and see if the decision also includes an injunction to
correct the infringing behavior,” said Bastien Le Querrec, a member of
La Quadrature’s litigation team, adding the group hadn’t received the
decision.
EU data protection regulators’ powers have increased significantly since
the bloc’s GDPR rules took effect in May 2018. It allows watchdogs for
the first time to levy fines of as much as 4% of a company’s annual
global sales. The biggest fine to date was a 50 million-euro penalty for
Google issued by France’s CNIL.
>>>End of Quote
