Eyes Everywhere: Amazon's Surveillance Infrastructure and Revitalizing Worker Power

Abstract

Employer surveillance of workers is nothing new. Even requiring workers to punch a timecard is a form of surveillance. But employers are increasingly finding new ways to watch over their workers, aided by developments in technology. And the methods that corporations are using are growing more and more invasive, often denying the basic humanity of employees. COVID-19 has accelerated the surveillance of workers, as it caused a shift to remote working for a large number of employees and a desire to track workers wherever they may be. But when the pandemic finally passes, the technologies that surveil workers will likely be here to stay.

Leading the troubling trend of worker surveillance is one of the world’s most powerful companies: Amazon. Amazon is the dominant online retailer in the United States, accounting for almost one out of every two dollars spent online. Beyond e-commerce, Amazon also maintains a commanding presence in many other markets spanning voice assistants, digital books, smart doorbells, and cloud computing.

Reports indicate that Amazon’s relationship with many of its employees consists of control, humiliation, and unabating anxiety. Employees have described Amazon as creating a “‘Lord Of The Flies’-esque environment where the perceived weakest links are culled every year.” Other employees have described that Amazon treats its workers like “zombies” and “robots,” ordered to work at a relentless pace and in the specific manner that Amazon requires its tasks to be completed.

In this paper, we discuss the various methods and tactics that Amazon implements to surveil its workers and how these surveillance operations harm them. We also detail how surveillance is tied to employer power over workers and how surveillance exacerbates the inherently unequal dynamics among corporations and their employees. Furthermore, we propose several solutions to reduce surveillance practices and their consequences, as well as reduce the market power that facilitates surveillance and limits employees’ job opportunities and bargaining power.

Keywords: Amazon, antitrust