Amazon has decided to appeal its conviction by the CNIL to pay a fine of 32 million euros for its employee surveillance system, which the institution considers to be too intrusive.
Action reaction. After the CNIL imposed a hefty fine on Amazon in January 2024 for abusive surveillance of its employees, the online sales giant expressed its “ deep disagreement with the conclusions of the CNIL which are factually incorrect » and had reserved “ the right to appeal “. It’s done, this Friday March 22, 2024. For the moment, on the side of the security police, there is radio silence.
32 million euros, for Amazon, is a drop in the ocean, or roughly 3% of the company’s turnover. But for the CNIL, this is a level “ almost unprecedented “. In a press release sent to Agence France Presse, Amazon announced that it had referred the matter to the Council of State. After an intense year 2023 for the CNIL, which imposed 90 million euros in fines on 42 organizations, 2024 promises to be severe.
But what exactly does the CNIL accuse Amazon France Logistique of?
The CNIL particularly criticizes Amazon for its massive collection of productivity data through scanners used by employees in its warehouses. Two indicators are sent to managers for this purpose.
The first indicator, called the “stow machine gun,” records scans performed too quickly, in less than 1.25 seconds. The second, “idle time”, detects any period of inactivity of more than 10 minutes.
Amazon defends the use of these warehouse management systems, calling them standard industry practice. According to the company, these tools are essential to ensure the safety, quality and efficiency of operations, as well as to ensure inventory tracking and package processing on time and in accordance with customer expectations.
Employee surveillance necessary for Amazon, but excessive for the CNIL
This case follows the opening in 2019 by the CNIL of a procedure after numerous alerts from employees of Amazon France Logistique, who had spoken to the press about their working conditions. The Commission concluded that “ an excessively intrusive employee activity and performance monitoring system », going against the GDPR.
The use of these tools is questioned by the CNIL, which considers that this system potentially puts employees in a position where they must justify each interruption, even of a few minutes, of their scanning activity, which imposes pressure on them. constant.
However, Amazon says that the first indicator, which it plans to deactivate, is intended to ensure that each employee takes the necessary time to properly inspect each item, and that they do not take postures that could compromise their safety and health . As for the second indicator, whose trigger threshold will be raised to 30 minutes, it is used to identify a continuous and abnormal failure.
Sources: Franceinfo, CNIL, AFP
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