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Congressional Committee Chairman Says WSJ Report Raises “Deep Concerns” About Amazon

By  |  April 26, 2020

A top congressional committee investigating technology companies has questioned whether Amazon misled Congress in sworn testimony following an article in The Wall Street Journal detailing the company’s use of third-party seller data to develop its products. 

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    “This report raises deep concerns about Amazon’s apparent lack of candor before the committee regarding an issue that is central to our investigation,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (Democrat – New York) said in a statement to the Journal on Thursday following the article. “We plan to seek clarification from Amazon in short order.” 

    In July, Nate Sutton, an Amazon associate general counsel, fielded questions on whether Amazon uses data from its third-party sellers to launch its own products. Mr. Sutton told Congress “We don’t use individual seller data directly to compete” with businesses on the company’s platform. 

    Amazon made similar assertions in written responses to the committee’s questions following the July hearing, reported the Wall Street Journal. 

    The Journal’s reporting detailed private-label executives having access to data containing proprietary information that they used to research best selling items they might want to compete against, including on individual sellers on Amazon’s website. If access was restricted, managers sometimes would ask an Amazon business analyst to create reports featuring the information, according to former workers, including one who called the practice “going over the fence.” In other cases, supposedly aggregated data was derived exclusively or almost entirely from one seller, former employees said.

    Amazon has launched an internal investigation into the matter, and the company stated in response to the article that employees using such data to inform private-label decisions would violate its policies.

    Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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