Amazon has been hit with an $886.6m (£636m) fine for allegedly breaking European Union data protection laws.
The fine was issued by the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection, which claimed the tech giant’s processing of personal data did not comply with EU law.
Amazon said it believed the fine to be “without merit”, adding that it would defend itself “vigorously”.
A spokeswoman told the BBC there had been “no data breach”.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules requires companies to seek people’s consent before using their personal data or face steep fines.
The Luxembourg data protection authority, also known as Commission Nationale pour la Protection des Données (CNPD), issued the fine to Amazon on 16 July, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by the company on Friday.
In response, Amazon said: “We believe the CNPD’s decision to be without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.”
The fine comes following rising regulatory scrutiny of large tech companies due to concerns over privacy and misinformation, as well as complaints from some businesses that the tech giants have abused their market power.
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“Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities,” said an Amazon spokeswoman.
“There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed.”
She stressed that the firm strongly disagrees with the CNPD’s ruling and intends 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,” she added. – BBC
