Marriott will contest £99m fine following Starwood hack

Marriott International has said it will contest the £99m fine threatened by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) following the hacking of its guest reservation database.

The hotel group has announced that the ICO has communicated its intent to issue a £99.2m fine against it following the hack in which the data of millions of customers was compromised.

Marriott has the right to respond before any final determination is made and a fine can be issued by the ICO. The company said it intends to "respond and vigorously defend its position".

Marriott International's president and chief executive Arne Sorenson said: "We are disappointed with this notice of intent from the ICO, which we will contest. Marriott has been cooperating with the ICO throughout its investigation into the incident, which involved a criminal attack against the Starwood guest reservation database.

"We deeply regret this incident happened. We take the privacy and security of guest information very seriously and continue to work hard to meet the standard of excellence that our guests expect from Marriott."

The Starwood guest reservation database that was attacked is no longer used for business operations.

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