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appalachiablue

(41,056 posts)
Thu Feb 4, 2021, 08:40 PM Feb 2021

Surveillance Empire: Amazon Deliv. Van AI-Camera Roaming Eyes, Mass Data Sweeps-Neighborhoods, Homes

Last edited Thu Feb 4, 2021, 10:09 PM - Edit history (1)



- An Amazon Prime delivery van stops at an apartment building in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City.
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- Warnings of Growing 'Surveillance Empire' as AI Van Cameras Give Amazon 'Roaming Eyes in Every Neighborhood.'- "Amazon will have the perfect panopticon in place to sweep up unprecedented amounts of data en masse," says Fight for the Future. Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, Feb. 4, 2021.

In what one leading digital rights advocate is calling "the largest expansion of corporate surveillance in human history," Amazon has begun installing artificial intelligence-equipped cameras in some of its partners' delivery vehicles to monitor drivers while they work, a move that is raising broader concerns about privacy and corporate power.

--"Beyond fueling the expansion of the police surveillance state, this means even if you don't use Amazon you're going to be in their system, being monitored, and targeted."—Fight for the Future

CNBC reported Wednesday that Amazon's AI-powered, four-lens cameras—called Driveri—are being tested in a handful of contracted delivery vehicles. The cameras are manufactured by Netradyne, a San Diego-based startup, and record 100% of the time while vans are operating. They watch and record not only the drivers, but also the road and what's happening around the vehicles. Driveri cameras feature AI software that detects up to 16 different safety issues, tracking everything from drivers' eye movements to speed and braking. Certain violations will trigger automatic audio alerts.

"Safety is our top priority at Amazon and it's our hope that this new system will give drivers and DSPs [delivery service partners] peace of mind while out delivering smiles to our customers," Karolina Haraldsdottir, a senior Amazon manager for last-mile safety, says in an instructional video sent to DSPs. However, many drivers—who must agree to have the cameras installed—labor unions, and privacy advocates expressed alarm over the intrusive technology.

In an online petition, the digital rights group Fight For the Future warns that "Amazon will have roaming eyes in every neighborhood, shopping center, and intersection in our communities." The petition continues:[Amazon] will be watching everyone including your kids. Along with the millions of Ring doorbell cams, floodlight cams, and mailbox cams, Amazon will have the perfect panopticon in place to sweep up unprecedented amounts of data en masse. They already have 2,000+ partnerships with law enforcement and it seems super likely that they'll start sharing footage from their vehicles the same way they share from Ring cameras—giving them access to license plates, biometric data, and enabling them to use facial recognition to track anyone's movements across neighborhoods and cities...

More, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/04/warnings-growing-surveillance-empire-ai-van-cameras-give-amazon-roaming-eyes-every
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- Inside Documents Show How Amazon Chose Speed Over Safety In Building Its Delivery Network, ProPublica, 2019,
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-documents-show-how-amazon-chose-speed-over-safety-in-building-its-delivery-network
..Time after time, internal documents and interviews with company insiders show, Amazon officials have ignored or overlooked signs that the company was overloading its fast-growing delivery network while eschewing the expansive sort of training and oversight provided by a legacy carrier like UPS. One such incident hit particularly close to home. Just as the company began to build its delivery network six years ago, a delivery van carrying Amazon packages struck a cyclist in a San Francisco suburb. The cyclist was Joy Covey, Amazon’s first chief financial officer. She was killed, leaving behind a young son.
But for all the heartbreak among her former colleagues, the fatal crash did not alter the course the company was charting on delivery. Indeed, the system Amazon was creating would come to rely on low-cost contractors like the one involved in the crash that killed Covey...
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Surveillance Empire: Amazon Deliv. Van AI-Camera Roaming Eyes, Mass Data Sweeps-Neighborhoods, Homes (Original Post) appalachiablue Feb 2021 OP
Sensationalism and fearmongering from commondreams? MineralMan Feb 2021 #1
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