Amazon.com Inc.'s
What Happened: A video recording the movements of a driver in a delivery van has been posted on a subreddit for Amazon's delivery service partners (DSP), /r/AmazonDSPDrivers, sparking outrage and surveillance concerns.
The video shows a dog hopping into the van and jumping into the lap of the driver, who is delighted - while this looks like a happy and cute video, it shows that Amazon's DSPs can not only look for traffic violations, but they can also record the driver.
Some users pointed out that while DSPs cannot watch a live feed, they can request a "check-in" video that records the driver.
Drivers Are Being Watched: The video not only shows the driver's actions, but it also shows constant subject tracking, so the driver is always in focus.
The video in question also shows that it's not the driver posting the video - instead, it shows someone using another device, likely a smartphone, recording the surveillance video being played back on a monitor.
This has sparked privacy concerns, with some users on the thread calling it dystopian.
"This is ******* disturbing. On God by the end of the month I hope to leave this dystopian ******** for a better opportunity," one user said, adding that they would put their name on a class action lawsuit if one is filed.
"This is some creepy ****. Yes it's not live, but after seeing this how Amazon can literally pull up footage at anytime of the day of us in the vans this is some next-level ****!" another user said.
UPS
"There's a reason why us at UPS just negotiated driver facing cameras out. **** is creepy AF," said a user.
Amazon's surveillance program counts things like the number of times a driver drinks coffee while driving, or drives without wearing the seatbelt, apart from traffic violations like speeding or jumping a signal.
