Amazon Fined €32 Million in France for "Excessive" Worker Surveillance
French regulator CNIL has fined Amazon France Logistique, the manager of Amazon's large warehouses in France, €32 million ($35 million) for implementing an "excessively intrusive" surveillance system to monitor employee performance. The fine was imposed not only for the system's intrusiveness but also for failing to inform workers and visitors adequately and maintaining insufficient security for the video surveillance system.
CNIL's investigation revealed that Amazon recorded data from workers' handheld scanners, leading to precise tracking of their activities. The system tracked the inactivity time of employees' scanners and measured the speed of scanning items, which could lead to employees potentially having to justify each break.
The regulator also identified breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including an illegal system with three alerts monitoring employee activity. One alert flagged quick scans, increasing the risk of errors, while others tracked breaks of various durations. These measures were deemed illegal by CNIL. CNIL also has questioned the necessity of retaining workers' data for 31 days.
Amazon has contested the findings, stating, "We strongly disagree with the CNIL's conclusions which are factually incorrect and we reserve the right to file an appeal," emphasising the industry-standard nature of warehouse management systems.
UK Concerns
CNIL's ruling echoed concerns about Amazon's surveillance practices raised in the UK, a system that has been acknowledged by Amazon's Europe policy chief, Brian Palmer. The GMB union, representing Amazon's UK warehouse workers, expressed concern about staff facing "bruising levels of scrutiny and surveillance."
As the public waits to see if Amazon will file an appeal against the findings, the concerns around the surveillance of workers and workers rights is once again brought to light.
