China News Agency, Brussels, October 15 (Reporter De Yongjian) After being heavily fined 746 million euros for violating EU data protection regulations in July this year, the US e-commerce giant Amazon officially appealed to the Luxembourg Administrative Court on the 15th.
A spokesperson for the Luxembourg judiciary confirmed the news to the media on the same day.
Since Amazon has its European headquarters in Luxembourg, the Luxembourg authorities are currently responsible for monitoring Amazon's data protection issues in the EU market.
In mid-July of this year, the Luxembourg National Data Protection Commission ruled that Amazon had inadequate protection of user data and violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and imposed a fine of 746 million euros on Amazon. The heaviest fine issued by a company under the Data Protection Regulations.
At that time, Amazon stated that the Luxembourg National Data Protection Commission’s conclusion was “unfounded” and that Amazon would fully defend itself; after the news of the appeal came out on the 15th, in the face of media inquiries, Amazon declined to comment on the case and only reiterated “ Amazon has not disclosed any data of EU users to third parties."
According to the procedure, after Amazon filed an appeal, the Luxembourg Administrative Court will make a clear ruling; if not satisfied with the decision of the Luxembourg Administrative Court, both parties can appeal to the Luxembourg Administrative Court.
In May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, regarded as the "world's most stringent", came into effect.
The regulations stipulate that if the protection of user data is unfavorable, the lighter can be fined 10 million euros or 2% of the previous year's global operating income, and the severer can be fined 20 million euros or 4% of the previous year's global operating income (fine The amount is "the larger of the two values"), obviously targeting the Internet giants.
So far, in addition to being fined for violating EU data protection regulations, Amazon is still undergoing EU antitrust investigations; in November last year, the EU issued a preliminary conclusion, stating that Amazon used seller data to avoid normal market competition risks and consolidated its “largest online sales in France, Germany, and other countries. However, this action violates the EU’s anti-monopoly law and distorts competition in the EU’s online retail market; if Amazon ultimately cannot reverse this conclusion, it will be punished by the EU again.
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