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Amazon reportedly telling drivers to give “Biometric Consent”, or lose jobs

Recently, Amazon introduced biometric technology to keep track and monitor its driver’s work and send alerts in case of any emergency. But somewhere, for drivers it is more like an invasion of privacy, raising the pressure of work. Some of the drivers aren’t agreeing, and following it, Amazon is taking strict reminders and consequences over them. 

They clearly said- To keep your job going, Amazon’s delivery drivers are needed to sign and give consent to be monitored via biometric. Several reports and feedback said it sounded more like an ultimatum than a normal reminder. 

In case you are not aware of the biometric monitoring, then it is done from in-vehicle cameras, which will take their photos and track their driving pattern to determine unsafe behaviors, and to prevent any mishappening. The cameras are AI-powered, set to record drivers’ behavior while driving and monitor each and everything to ensure safety, as per Amazon’s new add-on. 

Since its commencement in February 2021, some of the earlier reports stated, at the starting of this month some drivers quit over what they see as a violation of privacy. 

Talking about what the consent cum agreement says is it allows Amazon to gather biometric information in the form of photos to verify their identities and keep control of the driver’s location, and another movement. This also includes recording of miles driven, acceleration, braking, turns, speed, and unfollowing distance. 

While clarifying the matter and confusion in the mind of drivers, Amazon’s spokesperson Deborah Bass said the camera program is solely meant for safety purposes and it’s not at all to invade someone’s privacy. We respect our workers’ space. 

He added some facts and figures from the past and said- “we piloted the technology from April to October 2020 on over two million miles of delivery routes and the results generated remarkable drivers and community safety improvements- accidents reduced to 48 percent, stop sign violations decreased 20 percent, driving without seatbelt reduced to 60 percent, and distracted driving decrease 45 percent”. 

One media person said- when a firm pays to its workers, give us your consent or you are going to lose your job, then it’s not at all a consent. We are saddened by the news that Amazon is forcing its drivers on the threat of termination, to aggress over biometric. 

Critics are constantly discussing the points and loopholes in the new monitoring systems of Amazon. The majority of them found it’s not acceptable as drivers expected to deliver 100s of packages in a 10-hour shift, and thus moving outdoor or taking a little break, defecate a cafe, finding a restroom are also the things to monitor, the pace of job is unmanageable. 

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