Senators Demand Clarification from Jeff Bezos about Amazon's Recent Camera Surveillance

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been called upon by five senators to provide clarification on the company's recent allocation of surveillance cameras in vehicles used by contracted delivery drivers. On Wednesday the 3rd of March 2021, Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut requested clarity regarding the use of footage obtained by the cameras and how they were used.

Bezos was given a deadline of March 24, 2021 to respond. This reaction is a direct response to the CNBC report made in February about Amazon using cameras in vehicles from Netradyne at some contracted delivery partners across the U.S. Amazon revealed that the cameras record drivers "100% of the time". 

The cameras have four lenses that capture the road, driver, and both sides of the vehicle. All cameras were furnished with a software capable of flagging progressions of safety infractions like distracted riding and speeding. According to a training video Amazon claims that the cameras will improve the safety of the delivery network. This view has been refuted by both drivers and privacy advocates as a violation of privacy and increased employee surveillance. 

In the letter forwarded to the CEO of Amazon the senators wrote, " While we applaud the efforts to improve safety on the roads and decrease the plague of distracted driving, we need a better understanding of how your company will protect against potential new safety hazards stemming from increased worker surveillance."