The French data privacy watchdog, CNIL, has released its findings regarding the monitoring of employees by Amazon France Logistique.
According to CNIL, the company implemented a surveillance system that involved the use of scanners to monitor employee work. These scanners would notify management if employees were inactive for more than 10 minutes or if they handled packages too slowly or quickly.
France 24 reported that the watchdog highlighted the use of "stow machine guns" to monitor the speed of article scanning was one particular surveillance technique that if an article was scanned in less than 1.25 seconds, it would be flagged as being too fast.
CNIL also found that employees were constantly under pressure and had to regularly justify their absences. Even the time between entering the warehouse and starting work was monitored.
An employee handles packages at Amazon's logistic site, in Bretigny-sur-Orge, some 30 km south of Paris on November 22, 2023.
Monitoring System Violates EU Regulations
The watchdog pointed out that this monitoring system goes against the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires corporations to acquire permission before using personal data. The agency said that staff were not notified about the monitoring and that the data was kept for 31 days.
These results led CNIL to penalize Amazon France Logistique for €32 million ($34.7 million). This penalty represents around 3% of the company's 2021 sales of €1.1 billion ($1.19 billion), with a net profit of €58.9 million ($63.8 million). The fine was "nearly unprecedented" and close to the maximum of four percent of income, according to the CNIL.
In 2019, CNIL investigated the monitoring system after media reports and employee concerns. Amazon France Logistique's response to the fine and CNIL's privacy concerns are unknown.
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Amazon's Response to CNIL's Move
Amazon's comment on CNIL's sanction expressed notable disagreement with its findings. The corporation may challenge the measure.
The e-commerce giant's first point is that other logistics companies employ linked warehouse management systems. They claim that this system is beneficial for load balancing between multiple warehouses and teams, ensuring efficient and timely order processing during peak order periods, per TechCrunch.
Regarding the "stow machine gun" indicator, Amazon explains that it was implemented to allow workers to inspect products before storage, ensuring that they are not damaged. However, in response to the CNIL's concerns, Amazon has decided to disable this indicator in their system.
In regards to the "idle time" metric, Amazon has agreed to make changes. They will extend the threshold limit, triggering the indicator after 30 minutes of inactivity instead of the previous 10 minutes. This adjustment aims to address the CNIL's concerns and provide a more reasonable timeframe for employee breaks and other necessary activities.
"Warehouse management systems are industry standard and are necessary for ensuring the safety, quality, and efficiency of operations and to track the storage of inventory and processing of packages on time and in line with customer expectations," Amazon said in the statement, as quoted by CNBC in a report.
Overall, Amazon maintains that its surveillance system is not only common in the logistics industry but also serves important purposes such as load balancing and product inspection. They are committed to addressing the CNIL's concerns and making necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with privacy regulations.
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