Amazon facing Christmas shut-down after customer data row

The company is being threatened with court action for flouting its legal obligations by refusing to release or delete personal data on request - a charge denied by the company itself.

But campaigners from UK organisation Privacy International and US groups EPIC and Junkbusters say the retailer has admitted it is unable to remove information from its database.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, wrote to amazon.co.uk requesting his details be removed because he objected to the company's policy of transferring data to the US (see 'Amazon accused of violating data protection laws' http://www.silicon.com/a39757 ).

Despite acknowledging receipt of the letter, amazon.co.uk took no further action.

Davies said: "We got a generic response, 'I'm sorry we can't separate your data from our processing operations'. That immediately means amazon.co.uk is operating illegally in Britain."

A spokeswoman for amazon.co.uk refuted the claim, insisting the company is takes care to comply with data laws.

She said: "Privacy is something we take hugely seriously. We meet frequently with the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) to make sure our practices comply with UK legislation."

However, she admitted the company does not delete customer data completely, even when requested.

"We will delete data on request from our active customer database. We do retain a copy - to meet taxation and fraud protection requirements," she told silicon.com.

The DPC was unable to comment on the case but said it will look into any complaint received. Under the Data Protection Act (DPA), a company can only hold onto customer data for a limited period, and then only for legitimate legal reasons. Companies must also respond to customer requests within 40 days.

Davies first wrote to Amazon on 14 September. Amazon sent an email acknowledgement on 27 October and wrote to Davies on 22 November requesting further information - 69 days later.

A spokeswoman for the DPC said: " We would expect them to [ask for extra information] promptly - within a couple of weeks - otherwise we wouldn't be impressed."

The campaigners have written to the DPC and the US Federal Trade Commission calling for an investigation.

If the DPC fails to act Davies has vowed to take his complaint to the courts.