SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Amazon recently secured patents for wristbands that could monitor where a worker's hand goes. The bands are apparently meant to be used to increase productivity, potentially in the company's warehouses. (Photo: Scott Lewis/Flickr/cc)
With Latest Dystopian Step, Amazon Sparks Worries With Patent on Worker-Tracking Wristband
Patent designs detail how wristbands would vibrate if wearer moves hand "incorrectly" when completing warehouse work
Jan 31, 2018
Privacy advocates and labor groups raised concern Thursday over retail giant Amazon's newly-secured patents for a wristband that could be worn by warehouse employees, keeping track of where workers hands go while they're packing delivery boxes.
In the latest productivity-minded move by a company that's notorious for enacting stringent policies to ensure that workers meet targets, Amazon's designs outline a wristband that would vibrate when the wearer's hand moved incorrectly.
According to patent documents, obtained by GeekWire, the bracelet could be used to direct a worker to the correct inventory while packing products into delivery boxes:
Existing approaches for keeping track of where inventory items are stored...may require the inventory system worker to perform time consuming acts beyond placing the inventory item into an inventory bin and retrieving the inventory item from the inventory bid... Accordingly, improved approaches for keeping track of where an inventory item is stored are of interest.
Amazon has not announced plans to introduce the wristbands in warehouses at this point, but the news of the patents comes after several other measures the company has taken to track its employees.
In order to hit targets for packaging and delivering orders, warehouse workers are reportedly subjected to timed bathroom breaks and electronic timers to monitor how many boxes they pack per hour during their 55-hour workweeks.
"Amazon's new idea goes to extremes to treat workers like robots... Meanwhile, CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet."--Ben Norton, journalist
In 2016, a BBC study also found that delivery workers were routinely speeding and falling asleep at the wheel in order to meet delivery goals.
Critics argue that by introducing the wristbands in its warehouses, Amazon would be forcing employees to work as dexterous robots the company doesn't yet have.
"For Amazon, I believe technologies like this are largely a stop-gap measure until robots can take over more of the work. Currently, workers need to do the picking of packages because the robots don't yet have the necessary dexterity," Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, told the New York Daily News.
On Twitter, a number of critics slammed the patents and raised concerns about Amazon's surveillance of its employees.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Privacy advocates and labor groups raised concern Thursday over retail giant Amazon's newly-secured patents for a wristband that could be worn by warehouse employees, keeping track of where workers hands go while they're packing delivery boxes.
In the latest productivity-minded move by a company that's notorious for enacting stringent policies to ensure that workers meet targets, Amazon's designs outline a wristband that would vibrate when the wearer's hand moved incorrectly.
According to patent documents, obtained by GeekWire, the bracelet could be used to direct a worker to the correct inventory while packing products into delivery boxes:
Existing approaches for keeping track of where inventory items are stored...may require the inventory system worker to perform time consuming acts beyond placing the inventory item into an inventory bin and retrieving the inventory item from the inventory bid... Accordingly, improved approaches for keeping track of where an inventory item is stored are of interest.
Amazon has not announced plans to introduce the wristbands in warehouses at this point, but the news of the patents comes after several other measures the company has taken to track its employees.
In order to hit targets for packaging and delivering orders, warehouse workers are reportedly subjected to timed bathroom breaks and electronic timers to monitor how many boxes they pack per hour during their 55-hour workweeks.
"Amazon's new idea goes to extremes to treat workers like robots... Meanwhile, CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet."--Ben Norton, journalist
In 2016, a BBC study also found that delivery workers were routinely speeding and falling asleep at the wheel in order to meet delivery goals.
Critics argue that by introducing the wristbands in its warehouses, Amazon would be forcing employees to work as dexterous robots the company doesn't yet have.
"For Amazon, I believe technologies like this are largely a stop-gap measure until robots can take over more of the work. Currently, workers need to do the picking of packages because the robots don't yet have the necessary dexterity," Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, told the New York Daily News.
On Twitter, a number of critics slammed the patents and raised concerns about Amazon's surveillance of its employees.
Privacy advocates and labor groups raised concern Thursday over retail giant Amazon's newly-secured patents for a wristband that could be worn by warehouse employees, keeping track of where workers hands go while they're packing delivery boxes.
In the latest productivity-minded move by a company that's notorious for enacting stringent policies to ensure that workers meet targets, Amazon's designs outline a wristband that would vibrate when the wearer's hand moved incorrectly.
According to patent documents, obtained by GeekWire, the bracelet could be used to direct a worker to the correct inventory while packing products into delivery boxes:
Existing approaches for keeping track of where inventory items are stored...may require the inventory system worker to perform time consuming acts beyond placing the inventory item into an inventory bin and retrieving the inventory item from the inventory bid... Accordingly, improved approaches for keeping track of where an inventory item is stored are of interest.
Amazon has not announced plans to introduce the wristbands in warehouses at this point, but the news of the patents comes after several other measures the company has taken to track its employees.
In order to hit targets for packaging and delivering orders, warehouse workers are reportedly subjected to timed bathroom breaks and electronic timers to monitor how many boxes they pack per hour during their 55-hour workweeks.
"Amazon's new idea goes to extremes to treat workers like robots... Meanwhile, CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet."--Ben Norton, journalist
In 2016, a BBC study also found that delivery workers were routinely speeding and falling asleep at the wheel in order to meet delivery goals.
Critics argue that by introducing the wristbands in its warehouses, Amazon would be forcing employees to work as dexterous robots the company doesn't yet have.
"For Amazon, I believe technologies like this are largely a stop-gap measure until robots can take over more of the work. Currently, workers need to do the picking of packages because the robots don't yet have the necessary dexterity," Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, told the New York Daily News.
On Twitter, a number of critics slammed the patents and raised concerns about Amazon's surveillance of its employees.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy