Amazon has started installing connected cameras in delivery trucks to improve driver safety, but the move has sparked an outcry from associations that criticize the continued surveillance.
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“We recently started deploying latest-generation camera-based security technology in our delivery fleet
,
”
an Amazon spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.
"This technology will provide real-time alerts to drivers to help them ensure their safety when they are on the road
.
"
The e-commerce giant has chosen Driveri, a camera model produced by the Netradyne company that incorporates an artificial intelligence (AI) system to analyze the data and warn drivers live.
"For the safety of the drivers"
"Studies have shown that these cameras reduce collisions by a third through in-vehicle alerts, and by a third through improved driver behavior
,
" said
Karolina Haraldsdottir, an Amazon manager in charge of safety during deliveries.
She speaks in an internal video extolling the merits of the new system
"for the safety of drivers and the communities they serve"
, published by American media and authenticated by Amazon.
The cameras are equipped with four lenses, thus filming the road and the driver, but they do not record sound and do not broadcast live -
"nobody can invite themselves and listen during your deliveries"
, specifies Karolina Haraldsdottir.
With Driveri,
"a safety officer will now have access to every minute of a driver's day
,
"
says the Netradyne website.
"Business monitoring"
“This is the biggest expansion of corporate surveillance in human history,” said
Evan Greer, deputy director of the NGO Fight for the Future, which fights for human rights in a digital world.
“Amazon wants to turn its huge delivery fleet into a mobile army of surveillance cameras.
These devices will exacerbate the inhuman working conditions in which the drivers already work.
And they will infringe on everyone's basic rights by constantly collecting and analyzing images in our neighborhoods, ”
she continued in a statement.
According to the internal regulations on these cameras, published by the CNBC channel, they will also be used to assess the behavior of drivers, indicating that they have not stopped at a stop sign, for example.
"It seems inevitable that Amazon will find an easy way to share the videos with their more than 2,000 security partners
,
"
adds Evan Greer, who is also concerned about the risk of camera hacking.
