Tech giant faces EU probe
BRUSSELS - Amazon’s use of merchants’ data triggered an EU antitrust investigation on Wednesday, as regulatory concerns mount around the world on how tech giants exploit customer information to reinforce their market power.
US tech firms Amazon, Google and Facebook have been in the regulatory spotlight as antitrust enforcers examine how they use data to shut out rivals. Some US politicians and even one of Facebook’s co-founders have called for them to be broken up.
The European Commission has been seeking feedback from retailers and manufacturers since September into Amazon’s dual role as a marketplace for merchants and as a competitor, after complaints from traders about Amazon’s practices.
The commission said its investigation would look into Amazon’s data agreements with marketplace sellers and how the online retailer uses that data to choose which seller is selected to provide a product once a consumer clicks “buy.”
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who can fine companies up to 10 per cent of their global turnover and force them to change their business practices, said the issue was crucial as increasing numbers of Europeans shop online.
“E-commerce has boosted retail competition and brought more choice and better prices. We need to ensure that large online platforms don’t eliminate these benefits through anticompetitive behaviour,” she said.
Amazon said it would co-operate fully with the EU investigation. The company reached a deal with Germany’s antitrust authority on Wednesday to overhaul its terms of service for third-party merchants.
Under Amazon’s terms of service for Europe set out on its website, merchants grant Amazon “royaltyfree” rights to use their materials, such as technology, trademarks, content and product information.