Due to “excessive” worker surveillance, the global American technology corporation Amazon was recently fined €32 million (£27 million) in France.
The data watchdog discovered that Amazon tracked activities so precisely that employees may have to justify each break. According to the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), Amazon France Logistique, which oversees warehouses, recorded data captured by workers’ handheld scanners.
The conditions at Amazon warehouses were the subject of an investigation by France’s data protection regulator after media attention and employee complaints.
A system with three alarms in place to monitor employee activity was one of the many instances where it discovered Amazon had violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as determined by the CNIL.
In order to increase the likelihood of error, one alarm was generated if an item was scanned too quickly or less than 1.25 seconds after scanning a prior item.
An warning was raised to indicate that there was a higher chance of error if an item was scanned too rapidly or less than 1.25 seconds after the preceding item was scanned.
While one group monitored breaks lasting up to ten minutes, another group indicated breaks lasting one to ten minutes.
Amazon’s necessity to retain employee data for thirty-one days was also questioned by the CNIL.
An Amazon representative reacted to the results by saying, “We strongly disagree with the CNIL’s conclusions, which are factually incorrect, and we reserve the right to file an appeal.”
The industry standard warehouse management systems are required to track inventory storage and package processing in a timely manner that meets customer expectations, as well as to ensure the safety, quality, and efficiency of operations.
