French Regulator Fines Amazon for ‘Intrusive’ Staff Surveillance

French regulator CNIL said on Tuesday it had fined Amazon France Logistique 32 million euros ($35 million) for what the CNIL said was an “excessively intrusive” surveillance system set up to monitor the performance of staff.

The CNIL said indicators tracking the inactivity time of employees’ scanners had been put in place, and that such a system was illegal. It also said a system set up to measure the speed at which items were scanned was also “excessive.”

“More generally, the CNIL considered it was excessive to keep all the data collected by the system, as well as the resulting statistical indicators, for all employees and temporary workers, for a period of 31 days,” said the CNIL.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company disagrees with CNIL’s fine and reserves the right to appeal.

“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,” he also said.

Amazon France Logistique manages Amazon’s large warehouses in France.

($1 = 0.9174 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by Christian Schmollinger, Kirsten Donovan)

Photograph: An Amazon logo on a delivery van, Oct. 1, 2020. Photo credit: AP Photo/Steven Senne