Amazon agreed to pay $40 million for a documentary and limited series about Melania Trump, directed by Brett Ratner. The deal, far above market rates for similar content, came after Jeff Bezos met with Trump and as Amazon faced multiple federal investigations. The documentary, with Melania as an …
AmazonJeff BezosMelania TrumpDonald TrumpBrett Ratneramazonjeff-bezosmelania-trumpbriberyquid-pro-quo+4 more
Amazon’s Ring announced it would discontinue its “Request for Assistance” (RFA) tool, which had allowed police departments and public safety agencies to request video footage from doorbell camera owners through the Neighbors app. The policy change, effective immediately, marked a …
RingAmazonringpolice-accessprivacy-protectionpolicy-changeamazon+1 more
The Federal Trade Commission announced a $5.8 million settlement with Ring after finding the company compromised customers’ privacy by allowing employees and contractors to access private videos and failing to implement basic security protections that enabled hackers to take control of …
RingAmazonFederal Trade Commissionringftcprivacy-violationsemployee-misconductsurveillance-abuse+2 more
Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year
On January 11, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board officially certified the Amazon Labor Union’s historic April 2022 election victory at the Staten Island JFK8 facility, formally …
In response to questions from Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amazon vice president Brian Huseman disclosed in a July 1 letter that Ring had provided police with user camera footage on 11 occasions during 2022 without obtaining user consent or court warrants. Amazon justified these warrantless …
RingAmazonBrian HusemanEd Markeyringwarrantless-surveillancepolice-accessfourth-amendmentamazon+2 more
Amazon Defeats Second Staten Island Union Vote at LDJ5 Facility 618 to 380
On May 2, 2022, workers at Amazon’s LDJ5 sorting facility on Staten Island voted 618 to 380 against joining the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), delivering a significant defeat to the upstart union just one month after its …
AmazonChristian SmallsAmazon Labor UnionUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonLabor Rights
Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers
On April 12, 2022, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC)—a coalition of four major labor unions—released a comprehensive report analyzing Amazon’s worker injury rates using federal OSHA data. The report revealed that …
Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company’s First U.S. Union in Historic Victory
On April 1, 2022, workers at Amazon’s massive JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island voted 2,654 to 2,131 to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), creating the first unionized Amazon facility in the United …
Jeff BezosAmazonChristian SmallsAmazon Labor UnionUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonLabor RightsCorporate Accountability
Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse
On December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado struck Amazon’s DLI4 delivery facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, causing catastrophic structural damage that killed six workers: Deandre S. Morrow (28), Kevin D. Dickey (62), Clayton …
Jeff BezosAmazonWorker ExploitationCorporate AccountabilityAmazonWorker DeathLabor Rights
NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote
On August 2, 2021, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing officer issued a recommendation finding that Amazon had illegally interfered in the April 2021 union election at its Bessemer, Alabama …
National Labor Relations BoardAmazonRetail, Wholesale and Department Store UnionUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonLabor RightsCorporate Accountability+1 more
On May 18, 2021, Amazon extended its global ban on police use of Rekognition facial recognition software indefinitely “until further notice,” prolonging what was originally announced as a one-year moratorium in June 2020. The extension came just weeks before the original moratorium was …
AmazonAWSAndy JassyJeff Bezossurveillancefacial-recognitionamazonrekognitionpolice+3 more
Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign
On April 9, 2021, vote counting concluded in the historic union election at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse (BHM1), with workers decisively rejecting unionization by a margin of 1,798 votes against to 738 …
Jeff BezosAmazonRetail, Wholesale and Department Store UnionUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonLabor RightsCorporate Accountability
Amazon Discloses 19,816 Workers Infected with COVID-19 After Months of Concealment
On October 1, 2020, after months of resisting transparency demands from workers, labor groups, politicians, and regulators, Amazon disclosed that at least 19,816 of its frontline employees had tested positive or been …
Jeff BezosAmazonWorker ExploitationCOVID-19Corporate AccountabilityAmazonPublic Health
At Amazon’s Fall 2020 hardware event, Ring announced the Always Home Cam, a fully autonomous indoor security drone designed to fly preset paths through homes when triggered by Ring alarms or user commands. Ring President Leila Rouhi explained the product was created because “when …
RingAmazonLeila Rouhiringdronesurveillancealways-home-camamazon+2 more
On Wednesday, June 10, 2020, Amazon announced a one-year moratorium on police use of its Rekognition facial recognition software, shocking civil rights activists and researchers who had spent two years fighting to stop the company from selling surveillance technology to law enforcement. The …
AmazonAWSJeff Bezossurveillancefacial-recognitionamazonrekognitionpolice+4 more
Whole Foods Heat Map Tracks Stores at Risk of Unionization Using Diversity and Demographics
On April 20, 2020, Business Insider revealed that Amazon-owned Whole Foods had created an interactive “heat map” system that tracked and scored all 510 of its stores based on their risk of …
Jeff BezosAmazonWhole FoodsUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonSurveillanceData Analytics+1 more
Amazon Fires Christian Smalls for Organizing COVID Safety Protest
On March 30, 2020, Amazon fired warehouse worker Christian Smalls hours after he organized a walkout at the Staten Island JFK8 facility to protest inadequate COVID-19 safety measures. The termination occurred during the early, …
Jeff BezosAmazonChristian SmallsDavid ZapolskyWorker ExploitationUnion OrganizingAmazonCOVID-19Corporate Accountability+1 more
Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack
On September 2, 2019, Billy Foister, a 48-year-old Amazon warehouse worker, suffered a fatal heart attack at the Amazon fulfillment center in Etna, Ohio. According to his brother and coworkers, Foister lay on the …
Jeff BezosAmazonBilly FoisterWorker ExploitationCorporate AccountabilityAmazonWorker DeathLabor Rights
Ring announced it had established partnerships with more than 400 police departments across the United States, marking the first time the company publicly disclosed the scale of its law enforcement surveillance network. The announcement revealed that since Amazon’s 2018 acquisition, Ring had …
RingAmazonringpolice-partnershipssurveillancelaw-enforcementamazon+2 more
The Intercept published an investigation on January 10, 2019 revealing that beginning in 2016, Ring provided its Ukraine-based research and development team with virtually unfettered access to a folder on Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service containing every video created by every Ring camera …
RingAmazonJeff Bezossurveillanceringamazonprivacyemployee-misconduct+3 more
Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options
On October 2, 2018, one month after Bernie Sanders introduced the “Stop BEZOS Act,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the company would raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees, effective …
Jeff BezosAmazonWorker ExploitationCorporate AccountabilityAmazonLabor Rights
Amazon’s Anti-Union Training Video Leaked - Exposes Systematic Union Suppression Program
On September 26, 2018, Gizmodo published a leaked 45-minute union-busting training video that Amazon had distributed to Whole Foods team leaders, exposing the company’s systematic program to identify …
Jeff BezosAmazonWhole FoodsUnion OrganizingWorker ExploitationAmazonCorporate AccountabilitySurveillance
On September 5, 2018, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”—the “Stop BEZOS Act”—legislation designed to force large corporations like Amazon …
Bernie SandersJeff BezosAmazonRo KhannaWorker ExploitationCorporate AccountabilityAmazonPolitical ResponseLabor Rights
On July 26, 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released results of an independently verified test demonstrating that Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress with mugshots from a database of arrest photos. The test, which cost …
ACLUAmazonAWSJohn LewisJimmy Gomezsurveillancefacial-recognitionamazonrekognitionracial-bias+4 more
In June 2018, at the height of the Trump administration’s family separation crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, Amazon Web Services officials met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representatives in Redwood City, California to pitch Rekognition facial recognition technology for …
AmazonAWSICEDHSJeff Bezossurveillancefacial-recognitionamazonrekognitionice+4 more
Ring launched its standalone Neighbors app on iOS and Android devices, marking its first major product release since Amazon’s acquisition two months earlier. The free app allows users to share photos and videos of alleged suspicious activity, creating a crowdsourced surveillance network …
RingAmazonringneighbors-appsurveillancecommunity-monitoringamazon+2 more
Amazon announced its acquisition of Ring, a maker of smart doorbell cameras and home security systems, in a deal Reuters reported cost over $1 billion. The acquisition marked one of Amazon’s largest purchases and represented a major expansion into home surveillance infrastructure. Ring, …
AmazonJeff BezosJamie SiminoffRingamazonringsurveillanceacquisitiondoorbell-camera+2 more
The Federal Trade Commission approved Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market on August 23, 2017, without an in-depth investigation. This decision demonstrated regulatory challenges in addressing 21st-century tech monopolies, as the FTC did not find substantial anticompetitive …
Amazon Web Services announced the launch of Amazon Rekognition at its re:Invent developer conference in Las Vegas on November 30, 2016. The cloud-based facial recognition service marked Amazon’s entry into surveillance technology, offering image and video analysis capabilities including face …
AmazonAWSAndy Jassysurveillancefacial-recognitionamazonrekognitionlaw-enforcement+2 more
Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition
In November 2014, Amazon workers in Germany organized by the Ver.di union launched strikes during Black Friday, one of Amazon’s most profitable shopping periods, as part of an escalating labor dispute that had begun in …
Jeff BezosAmazonVer.di UnionWorker ExploitationLabor RightsUnion OrganizingAmazonInternational
Amazon Implements Automated Worker Surveillance and Tracking System
Beginning around 2012, Amazon deployed comprehensive automated surveillance systems in its warehouses that tracked worker productivity per second through handheld scanners, creating what labor advocates described as algorithmic …
Jeff BezosAmazonWorker ExploitationSurveillanceCorporate AccountabilityTechnologyAmazon
Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed
On September 18, 2011, The Morning Call newspaper published a landmark investigation exposing brutal working conditions at Amazon’s warehouse in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley). The investigation revealed that during …
Jeff BezosAmazonWorker ExploitationCorporate AccountabilityLabor RightsAmazon