France’s privacy watchdog, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL), announced on Tuesday that it has fined Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) French warehouse business 32 million euros ($35 million) for utilizing an “excessively intrusive system” to monitor the performance and activity of its warehouse staff.
The CNIL stated that the system employed by Amazon France Logistique allowed managers to monitor employees so closely that it led to multiple violations of the European Union’s strict privacy regulations, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Amazon responded by expressing strong disagreement with the CNIL’s conclusions, labeling them as factually incorrect, and reserving the right to file an appeal. The company defended the use of warehouse management systems, asserting that they are industry standard and essential for ensuring operational safety, quality, and efficiency, as well as meeting customer expectations.
The CNIL’s investigation focused on the use of handheld barcode scanners by Amazon employees to track packages at different points in the warehouse, such as placing them in crates or preparing them for delivery. While Amazon uses this system to manage its business and achieve performance targets, the CNIL argued that it goes beyond traditional methods of monitoring worker activity, subjecting employees to “close surveillance” and “continuous pressure.”
The handheld scanner, referred to as a “stow machine gun,” enables Amazon to monitor employees to the “nearest second.” If items are scanned too quickly—less than 1.25 seconds—it signals an error. While the system is used to measure productivity and periods of inactivity, the CNIL contended that, under EU privacy rules, it is illegal to establish a system that measures work interruptions with such precision, potentially requiring employees to justify every break or interruption.
In addition, the CNIL criticized Amazon for retaining employee data for an excessive duration, stating that it did not need “every detail of the data” generated by the scanners from the past month, as real-time data and weekly statistics would have sufficed. The watchdog’s fine reflects its commitment to upholding privacy rights and ensuring that companies comply with the GDPR in their handling of employee data.
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Author Stephanie Bédard-Châteauneuf 
