"We strongly disagree with the ruling," an Amazon spokesperson said of the penalty
"Maintaining the security of our customers' information and their trust are top priorities," Amazon said in a response to the penalty. File Photo by Friedemann Vogel/EPA-EFE
July 30 (UPI) -- The European Union has fined retail giant Amazon close to $900 million for, according to investigators, running afoul of the alliance's data protection laws.
The fine was imposed a couple weeks ago, but disclosed on Friday in a securities filing by Amazon.
The penalty was given by the EU's National Commission for Data Protection, which said Amazon failed to comply with a data protection law.
The watchdog said Amazon data-processing practices were not in line with the statute.
As part of the penalty, the commission urged Amazon to change certain business practices.
The retail giant said in a response to the fine that none of its practices have violated the EU law.
"The decision ... relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion," Amazon said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Maintaining the security of our customers' information and their trust are top priorities," the company added, according to CNBC.
Regulators last month had proposed a $425 million fine for Amazon.
In its response, Amazon said it's planning to appeal the punishment.
"We strongly disagree with the CNPD's ruling," a spokesperson for the company said, according to the CNBC report.
The disclosure of the fine came a day after Amazon reported $113 billion in second-quarter revenue. The April-July period was third straight quarter of at least $100 billion, but missed most analysts' expectations by about $2 billion.
Amazon is the not the only tech company to be targeted as of late. Google recently faced fines in France for $267 million for abusing its power in the online marketplace and $600 million earlier this month related to content.
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