It's understandable that Amazon places security cameras inside their delivery vans since technically, it is somewhat of a workplace. What's really concerning is if the videos are leaked online to the public, which is a violation of the privacy of the company's drivers.
Surveillance Footage Are Posted Online
Reddit is a hub for all sorts of content, which is why from time to time, you'll find something that's not supposed to be there, such as in-van surveillance footage from Amazon delivery vehicles. The videos showed up on the r/AmazonDSPDrivers subreddit.
Posted by the user u/Ashuriiaa on July 3rd, a voice off-camera said something about the driver playing with a customer's dog, saying that "she had a little guest with her today." Although there is no alarming content.
This made my day
by u/Ashuriiaa in AmazonDSPDrivers
The intention appears to be innocent, as the original poster just wanted to share on Reddit the nature of the video, which the user captioned "This made my day." Harmless or not, it sparks issues with how Amazon or DSPs keep its footage from being leaked.
The surveillance video itself was not uploaded on the social networking site. Instead, the footage was playing on a monitor, and the user was taking a video using a smartphone, as reported by The Verge. The office appears to be from a DSP company.
This is not the first time that it has happened. In other cases, the videos that were uploaded were directly from the camera system. In all the cases, it was not the driver themselves who published the footage.
The cameras installed inside the vehicle have been around since 2021, which allows Amazon to monitor its drivers' activities during active duty. Reports say that the workers were made to sign biometric consent forms.
These forms allowed the company to obtain information, photographs, vehicle location, vehicle speed, and acceleration, as well as potential violations in traffic and driver behavior. These then can be used to lay off employees.
Amazon spokesperson Simone Griffin stated that the cameras from Netradyne Driveri were "used to help keep drivers and the communities where they deliver safe." DSPs have access to the system's portal where the footage is automatically uploaded.
Other Issues from Amazon Drivers
This June, Amazon drivers from Palmdale, CA went on strike in order for the retail giant to bargain with the union. The strike went on for a second time after a week, with the picket lines extending to the Amazon warehouse in San Bernardino, as reported by Vice.
One of the strikers, Brandi Diaz expressed that Amazon workers across the country "know that this company always puts its profits ahead of our safety and our families' livelihoods," adding that the extension of the picket lines is to force the company to end its unfair labor practices.
According to Vice, Amazon refused to bargain with the drivers since they were technically not directly employed by Amazon, even though the company had complete control of their tasks and schedules. They were contractors from a delivery service partner called Battle-Tested Strategies.
