Amazon French warehouses unit fined 32 million euros

PARIS

France's data protection agency said yesterday it had fined Amazon's French warehouse management unit 32 million euros ($34.9 million) for an "excessively intrusive" surveillance system to monitor staff performance.

Amazon France Logistique monitored the performance of employees through data from scanners used by the staff to process packages, according to the agency, known by its initials CNIL.

Scanners recorded moments of inactivity exceeding 10 minutes or the handling of packages and parcels "right up to the second," the CNIL said in a statement.

The other surveillance methods deemed unacceptable by CNIL were the "stow machine gun" which noted if an article was scanned "too fast" or in less than 1.25 seconds.

It said workers were under constant pressure and had to regularly justify absences. Even the time between the employees' entry into the warehouse and the start of work was monitored.

It said they were not adequately informed about the surveillance and the data was kept for 31 days.

The fine was equivalent to about three percent of the turnover of Amazon France Logistique.

An Amazon spokesman said the company rejected the findings as "factually incorrect and we reserve the right to appeal", adding that such systems were needed "to guarantee security, quality and efficiency."