Amazon received a fine of 746 million euros (19 billion crowns) from the European Union for transferring personal data in violation of the rules for their protection, known as GDPR. The company said this in a detailed financial report that publicly traded companies in the United States are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Luxembourg Data Protection Authority imposed a fine on Amazon Europe Core in a decision of 16 July. The American Street newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the imminent fine in June, referring to sources familiar with the situation. But he said the amount would be about half, specifically over $ 425 million.
“We believe that the CNPD’s decision is unfounded, and we intend to vigorously defend the matter,” Amazon said. GDPR requires users’ companies to seek consent before using their personal information. Amazon’s regulator in the EU, as the company is headquartered in Luxembourg.
The WSJ wrote in June that the impending fine of $ 425 million would be the highest fine ever imposed under the rules. It would correspond to about two percent of Amazon’s net profit of $ 21.3 billion last year, and just over a tenth of one percent of its revenue of $ 386 billion.
Amazon is the largest online store in the world. It was founded by Jeff Bezos, who is currently the richest man in the world. The value of his assets, according to Bloomberg, is around $ 191 billion.
In the second quarter of this year, the company increased its net profit by almost half year-on-year to $ 7.78 billion (approximately 167 billion crowns). However, its sales and outlook for the next quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations, which led to a significant weakening of the company’s shares.