The latest buzz around Amazon.com Inc is that the e-commerce giant has been imposed with a European Union fine of $886.6 million (746 million euros) for processing personal data in contravention of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The fine was imposed by the National Commission for Data Protection in Luxembourg, which argued that the tech giant's processing of personal data did not conform with EU legislation.

Amazon claimed the fine was 'without merit' and that it would fight it 'vigorously'.

The fine comes as huge digital companies face increased regulatory scrutiny over privacy and misinformation concerns, as well as complaints from certain businesses that the tech giants have misused their market power.

Amazon is far from the first major firm to be fined under the EU's GDPR, but this amount is by far the highest since the law's implementation in 2018.

The regulation established tight guidelines for the use, storage, and processing of sensitive data.

While Google, British Airways, H&M, and Marriot Hotels have all been fined by European governments for breaking the regulations, the fines were in the tens of millions, not the hundreds of millions.

Meanwhile, in May, Amazon prevailed in a court case involving 250 million euros in Luxembourg taxes.

The European Commission had demanded Amazon to reimburse the sums as back taxes, claiming that the company had received preferential treatment, but the judgment was reversed by a court.

The EU's concerns were previously thought to be focused on the data that Amazon has access to and how it utilizes it, such as sensitive commercial information on third-party products such as volume and pricing.

The European Commission sued Amazon last year with exploiting its dominating position in online retail to acquire an unfair competitive advantage.

In recent years, US internet titans, notably Amazon, have been accused of ‘monopoly power', prompting calls for such corporations' capabilities to be 'reined in'.

Amazon stated, "we believe the CNPD's ruling is without merit and intend to strongly defend ourselves in this matter".