If Amazon had obtained “freely given”, informed, and unambiguous opt-in consent before setting cookies on its users’ devices, the company probably could have avoided this huge GDPR fine.Ģ. But regulators have shown some serious appetite for enforcing the EU’s cookie rules recently. How the fine could have been avoided: It’s tempting to force users to “agree” to cookies-or make opting out of cookies difficult-to collect as much personal data as possible.

In late 2020, France fined Amazon €35 million after the tech giant allegedly failed to get cookie consent on its website.

The full reasons behind the fine haven’t yet been confirmed, but we know the cause has to do with cookie consent.Īnd this isn’t the first time Amazon has been punished due to the way it collects and shares personal data via cookies. The biggest GDPR fines of 2020, 2021, and 2022 (so far)Īmazon’s gigantic GDPR fine, announced in the company’s July 2021 earnings report, is nearly 15 times bigger than the previous record.

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