Spain’s data protection authority has fined Amadeus IT Group €14.4 million over a pilot project that used passenger booking data from the company’s global distribution system (GDS) to profile travelers.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) said it reduced the penalty from an initial €18 million after Amadeus made a voluntary payment without admitting liability.
The ruling followed an investigation launched after an anonymous complaint filed in September 2023 alleged improper use of traveler data for profiling purposes.
According to the ruling, booking data from airlines and travel agencies was consolidated into a platform used to profile travelers based on their booking histories. The pilot combined data from Amadeus’ GDS with hotel customer data.
In a statement, Amadeus said the pilot lasted three months and was “designed to test the technical capabilities of analyzing traveler data to generate aggregated statistical patterns” to improve the traveler experience. The company said no personal data was shared externally.
The AEPD cited alleged violations of Article 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), related to transparency and information obligations, and Article 6, related to lawful basis for processing personal data. The GDPR is the European Union’s data privacy law governing how companies collect and use personal information.
The regulator said the pilot used passenger name record (PNR) data from 2019, including archived booking files used three years after the original reservation took place.
The ruling said the pilot involved agreements with hotel companies signed in 2021 and 2022 for limited testing periods. The authority also said it could not confirm during the investigation that airlines were aware of the profiling-related platform.
“We respectfully disagree with the AEPD’s application of data protection laws and its decision to impose a fine,” Amadeus said. “At the same time, we believe that the fine placed on Amadeus does not comply with the principle of proportionality, and we will seek to contest it before the courts.”