The National Commission of Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), the French regulatory body, has announced a fine of 32 million euros($35 million) against Amazon France Logistique.
Amazon France Logistique oversees the management of Amazon’s extensive warehouses in France.
The decision comes after the company was found to have a surveillance system in place that was overly intrusive and designed to monitor staff performance.
Criticising the system, CNIL highlighted the implementation of indicators to monitor the inactivity time of employees’ scanners. It not only deemed the system as illegal but also said the system that measured the speed of item scanning as ‘excessive’.
In a broader context, CNIL expressed concerns about the retention of all data collected by the system, along with resulting statistical indicators, for both employees and temporary workers, spanning a 31-day period. CNIL argued that this practice was very prolonged.
In response, an Amazon spokesperson disagreed with CNIL’s imposed fine, asserting the company’s intention to exercise the right to appeal. The spokesperson defended the use of warehouse management systems as industry standard.
Additionally, he emphasised that there was a necessity to ensure operational safety, quality and efficiency. According to the spokesperson, these systems are crucial for tracking inventory storage and processing packages within specified timeframes, aligning with customer expectations.
Recently, the tech giant revealed its intentions to reduce workforce by big numbers. In a bet to streamline its operations, the search giant is shedding hundreds of jobs across its Google Assistant, augmented reality hardware and central engineering teams.
This move, part of ongoing cost-cutting measures, comes nearly a year after the company’s largest-ever layoffs affecting 12,000 employees.
