French data watchdog fines Amazon for excessive surveillance of workers

Amazon has been fined €32m ($34.5m) by the French data protection authority (CNIL) for engaging in “excessive” surveillance of its workers, with measures that were deemed illegal. The investigation was launched after complaints from employees and media reports about working conditions.

The CNIL found that Amazon France Logistique, which manages warehouses, recorded data collected by workers’ handheld scanners and closely monitored their activities to the extent that workers had to potentially justify each break. The watchdog determined that this level of surveillance violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Specifically, the CNIL ruled that Amazon’s use of a system with three alerts to monitor employee activity was illegal.

In response, Amazon disagreed with the CNIL’s findings, stating that warehouse management systems, including surveillance measures, were industry standard and necessary for safety, quality, efficiency, and meeting customer expectations. However, the CNIL argued that Amazon already had access to sufficient data for these purposes and considered the system excessively intrusive.

The CNIL further stated that closely tracking employees could lead to workers having to justify even brief interruptions of scanning. Amazon also used data collected by the scanners for planning work operations in warehouses, weekly employee evaluations, and training.

In addition to the fine, Amazon was penalized for inadequate disclosure of surveillance practices to workers and external visitors, and the watchdog found that the company had insufficient security in its video surveillance system.