If AWS causes you harm through a service failure, data loss, or other incident, the maximum amount AWS will pay you is limited to what you paid AWS in the year before the incident. AWS also will not pay for lost profits, lost data, or indirect losses even if they knew these losses were possible.
This analysis describes what AWS's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
For businesses that rely on AWS for critical infrastructure, this cap may be far smaller than actual losses from a serious outage or data incident, leaving the customer to absorb the majority of the financial damage.
Interpretive note: Enforceability of the cap may vary by jurisdiction, particularly in the EU and for cases involving gross negligence or willful misconduct where applicable law may limit contractual liability exclusions.
This clause means that if AWS loses your data or suffers an outage causing your business significant harm, your financial recovery from AWS is limited to twelve months of fees paid, regardless of the actual scale of your losses. Businesses with high-value workloads or sensitive data should assess whether this cap is adequate relative to their risk exposure.
How other platforms handle this
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The Netflix service and/or some of the Netflix content may not be available at any time as a result of events beyond our reasonable control...we will not be held liable should such events occur.
"IN NO EVENT WILL EITHER PARTY OR THEIR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, CUSTOMERS, OPPORTUNITIES, GOODWILL, USE, OR DATA, EVEN IF A PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. FURTHER, NEITHER PARTY NOR THEIR AFFILIATES WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COMPENSATION, REIMBURSEMENT, OR DAMAGES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH: (A) YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES... AWS'S AND ITS AFFILIATES' AGGREGATE LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID US UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.Excerpt from AWS's Customer Agreement
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Limitation of liability clauses in cloud service agreements are reviewed under general contract law principles and, in the EU, may interact with GDPR Article 82 regarding liability for data processing failures.
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For businesses that rely on AWS for critical infrastructure, this cap may be far smaller than actual losses from a serious outage or data incident, leaving the customer to absorb the majority of the financial damage.
This clause means that if AWS loses your data or suffers an outage causing your business significant harm, your financial recovery from AWS is limited to twelve months of fees paid, regardless of the actual scale of your losses. Businesses with high-value workloads or sensitive data should assess whether this cap is adequate relative to their risk exposure.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 287 platforms. See the full comparison.
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