The Commission's RFI specifically asks Amazon to provide detailed insights into its compliance with the transparency requirements for recommender systems. This includes information on the input factors, features, signals, information, and metadata used in these systems, as well as the options available for users to opt out of profiling for recommender systems. Additionally, Amazon must furnish details about the design, development, deployment, testing, and maintenance of the online interface of the Amazon Store's Ad Library, along with supporting documents for its risk assessment report, the Commission said in a statement.

Amazon has been given a deadline of July 26, 2024 to supply the requested information. Following an evaluation of Amazon's responses, the Commission will decide on the subsequent steps, which might involve the formal initiation of proceedings under Article 66 of the DSA.

According to Article 74 (2) of the DSA, the Commission has the authority to impose fines for providing incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to RFIs. Should Amazon fail to respond, the Commission may issue a formal request via decision, with potential periodic penalty payments for non-compliance.

This request follows Amazon’s designation as a Very Large Online Platform and the Court’s decision to reject Amazon’s appeal to suspend the obligation to make its advertisement repository publicly accessible. Consequently, Amazon is mandated to fully comply with DSA obligations. This includes identifying and assessing all systemic risks relevant to its service, offering a recommender system option not based on user profiling, and maintaining a publicly available advertisement repository.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)