Amazon was hit by the record-breaking GDPR fine of 746 million dollars ($887m) by Luxembourg's National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD). This is due to Amazon's use of customer data for targeted advertising.Amazon made the announcement in a filing to the SEC on Friday. It called the decision baseless and stated that it would vigorously defend itself in this matter.A spokesperson for Amazon stated that trust and security are the top priorities. No data breach has occurred and no customer data was disclosed to any third parties. These facts cannot be disputed.We strongly disagree with the CNPDs decision and intend to appeal. The decision regarding how we show customers relevant advertisements is based on subjective and untested interpretations under European privacy law. The proposed fine is completely out of proportion.This penalty was the result of a 2018 complaint from La Quadrature du Net in France, which claims to represent the interests thousands of Europeans and ensure that their data is not used by large tech companies to manipulate their behaviour for political or commercial purposes. This complaint also targets Apple, Facebook Google, and LinkedIn. It was filed on behalf more than 10,000 customers.La Quadrature du Net welcomes the CNPD's fine. This comes after three years in which we have been silent and feared the worst.In a blog post, the group stated that the model of economic dominance based on the exploitation our privacy and freewill is deeply illegitimate. It also goes against all the values that democratic societies claim to uphold.The CNPD also ruled that Amazon must change its business practices. The regulator has yet to publicly announce its decision and Amazon did not specify the revised business practices that it proposed.
