Amazon is going to court to challenge a fine of 746 million euros imposed by Brussels.
The e-commerce giant had to suffer an exceptionally large fine in 2021, amounting to 746 million euros, under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A “record” level, which has in the meantime been exceeded by the sanction imposed last year on Meta, of 1.2 billion euros. But the firm founded by Jeff Bezos cannot resolve to simply pay.
Amazon would have wanted a conciliation
Amazon operates within the European Union from its headquarters in Luxembourg. And it is from this country that the American group wishes to counterattack to, potentially, reduce the exceptional fine imposed a few years ago by Brussels. He has just gone before a local court of law to challenge the practices of the European Union.
Accused of improperly using its users’ data, Amazon considers that the European Commission would have sought to punish the American company, ” without the possibility of modifying its practices. » An assertion strongly opposed by the authorities of the continent.
An action launched by Quadrature du Net
Thus, for the lawyer of the Luxembourg data regulator, Vincent Wellens, Amazon can only blame itself. For him, the group’s leaders must “ behave like big boys and not wait for authority to provide them with guidance on what exactly they should do. » As a reminder, the GDPR came into force in European countries in 2018.
It was during this same year that the association for the defense and promotion of rights and freedoms on the Internet, La Quadrature du Net, sounded the alarm. She then explained that Amazon uses its users’ data without their consent for its targeted advertisements.
Note also that, contrary to this legal file, Amazon had managed to obtain an agreement with the European Union at the end of 2022 to end two investigations questioning the way in which it used Internet users’ data.
Source : Bloomberg
0