The suspension of the fine was due to its “imprecise character” according to the administrative court’s president Marc Sünnen. Photo: Shutterstock.

The suspension of the fine was due to its “imprecise character” according to the administrative court’s president Marc Sünnen. Photo: Shutterstock.

Amazon succeeded in its appeal to the administrative court against part of a sanction imposed by the CNPD amounting to €746m and €746,000 per day since the penalty was imposed, due to imprecise wording.

Luxembourg has suspended the payment of the fine imposed by data protection watchdog CNPD, absolving Amazon from paying €746m. The American tech giant’s appeal aimed to wave a part of the fine which amounted to €746,000 per day, starting six months after 15 July applicable if Amazon’s advertising system was not brought into conformity with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The suspension of the fine was due to its “imprecise character” according to the administrative court’s president Marc Sünnen.

"The various injunctions addressed under penalty of a fine by the CNPD to Amazon Europe Core to bring its advertising system into compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) had not been formulated in clear, precise and uncertainty-free terms, in conditions that would enable it to comply with them within the time limit, i.e. before 15 January 2022," stated the court.

Amazon’s appeal was based on the idea that without more precise guidelines from the CNPD, the company was not certain even if it had taken a step in the right direction, that its action would have enabled it to avoid the penalty payment.

This decision only affects the suspension of the penalty payment, the rest of the case is still pending.

As Amazon has its European headquarters in Luxembourg, the national data protection watchdog CNPD was given the mandate to handle the case, as required by the GDPR.