Amazon's COVID-19 wellness checks, which have been using biometric technology to ensure that their facilities are safe from the virus, are now the target of a biometric privacy lawsuit.
TORRAZZA PIEMONTE, ITALY - JUNE 03: General view of Amazon logo on Amazon Headquarter on June 03, 2021 in Torrazza Piemonte near Turin, Italy. Amazon Italy rolls out an on-site vaccine site for its employees. as Italy steps up next wave of vaccine campaigns
The lawsuit, according to a report by Reuters, was originally planned to be dismissed. However, Chicago US District Judge Mary Rowland denied the dismissal request put forth by Amazon Inc.
A former employee filed the case against the e-commerce giant after Amazon allegedly collected his biometric data without consent, all for these so-called COVID-19 wellness checks.
The aforementioned employee cited the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which has already gotten multiple businesses in trouble. It is considered among the strictest US laws concerning biometric privacy, as per the original Reuters report.
According to the lawsuit, ex-warehouse worker William Naughton alleged that the devices planted in Amazon's work sites basically scanned faces and checked the temperatures of employees with impunity. Under BIPA, the scanners are required to ask for informed consent before collecting data and sharing it with third parties.
Favoring Naughton, Judge Rowland disagreed with Amazon's statement that Naughton "failed to allege that the company took active steps" to collect biometric data covered by the BIPA.
A picture shows the Amazon logo at the entrance of the Amazon logistics centre in Amiens, northern France, on July 23, 2019. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)
With this news, Amazon is the latest in a roster of businesses that have been in trouble with this law.
Back in early December, the company ClearView AI (which specializes in facial recognition technologies) was asked by Canadian privacy watchdogs to stop their non-consensual collection of biometric data.
Amazon's Troubles With The Pandemic
To say that the erstwhile e-commerce leader has had a rough few years since the pandemic began is an understatement. And this controversy regarding their wellness checks are only the latest.
Perhaps one of the biggest is when the company was asked to pay a fine after reportedly hiding COVID cases from their employees. The $500,000 fine was levied by the state of California, due to the violation of a newly passed state law called "Right To Know"--devised to help ensure that workplaces are safe from a coronavirus outbreak.
A worker pushes a cart among shelves lined with goods at an Amazon warehouse on September 4, 2014 in Brieselang, Germany. Germany is online retailer Amazon's second largest market after the USA. Amazon is currently in a standoff with several book publishers over sales conditions and prices for e-books, and hundreds of authors in the US and Europe have written letters in support of the publishers.
Aside from that, the site was also tagged in an issue regarding fake COVID masks that have been spreading in its online store.
A report by The New York Times revealed that those who try to buy N95 face masks on the site are often sent to unauthorized vendors that sell either fake or sub-par N95 masks. It is alleged that these vendors are unauthorized by the FDA to sell their products in healthcare applications.
Lastly, there were reports of the company posting ads on websites that spread fake information about COVID-19 in the UK and the United States, along with Nike. Some users are even saying that these advertisements have been "sprouting like mushrooms" on said sites, of which 30 have been identified as hosting ads from both companies.
This is an ongoing story, so check back here at Tech Times.
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Written by RJ Pierce
