Amazon’s $887 million fine still not largest privacy penalty
Amazon’s recent $887 million (746 euro) fine for violating GDPR seems groundbreaking. By comparison, the largest ever HIPAA fine was only $16 million.
Still, the gargantuan fine pales in comparison to the largest ever privacy fine. That honor goes to Facebook, who was fined $5 billion by the FTC in 2019.
Europe actually “took it easy” on Amazon, this time. GDPR fines can be as large as 4% of a company’s global revenue. For Amazon, that would be $15 billion. Should Amazon violate GDPR again, the next fine almost certainly will be in the billions.
The fine was for misusing customer data for advertising purposes without customer permission.
What is the lesson? Privacy fines are enormous, and significant effort is required to ensure privacy regulations are abided to. But we know why companies get fined and how fines can be prevented.
Have customers in Europe, California, or Brazil? Avoid a major fine. Contact ZenPrivata’s privacy experts today for a Privacy Impact Assessment or email Hello@ZenPrivata.com today.
