Amazon Challenges EU Over $844M Fine

An Amazon attorney told European Union officials that the eCommerce giant has received no corrective action guidance from EU regulators on how to comply with a July order to pay a privacy fine of 746 million euros (about $844 million) and therefore should not be responsible for a potential daily fine of 746,000 euros (about $844,000), Bloomberg reported.

The deadline for Amazon to undertake the required changes is Jan. 15, 2022, according to the report. However, while the appeal is ongoing, the retailer is not required to pay the fine.

Amazon’s fine stems from an alleged violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the third quarter of this year, GDPR-related fines were 984.47 million euros (about $1.14 billion), an amount that is nearly 20 times more than the combined first and second quarter fines and three times higher than the total fines levied in all of 2020.

Read more: GDPR Fines Exceed $1.1B in Q3

Amazon’s fine is the largest to date, followed by WhatsApp Ireland at 225 million euros (about $255 million) and Google at 50 million euros (about $57 million).

In July, the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection fined Amazon for allegedly violating data protection laws stemming from its advertising and ordered the retailer to modify some of its business practices. Amazon has appealed the ruling.

See more: EU Privacy Regulator Fines Amazon $887M

Since it took effect in 2018, the GDPR sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal data from EU residents and mandates that those living in the EU receive data disclosures.

Read more: Facebook Faces Lawsuits Over Alleged Privacy Violations

The GDPR allows data protection agencies in Europe to fine companies up to 4% of their annual global sales.

Earlier this month, PYMNTS reported that Facebook could be sued by European consumer groups related to the platform’s collection of personal information as part of its games available on the app in 2012. The social media giant’s past practices were allegedly a violation of the GDPR.