Amazon patents wristbands that spy on its workers

By Warren Miller, contributing writer

It’s not uncommon for workplaces to monitor the computer and internet activity of their employees on company premises in the name of maintaining a high level of workplace efficiency, but Amazon may be taking that idea one step further, or even one step too far, depending on how you look at it. The online conglomerate has filed for patents and has been granted two different wristbands with built-in motion sensors designed not only to monitor where Amazon employees go within their cacophonous fulfillment centers, but also the movements of their hands and arms.

Amazon claims that these wristbands aren’t intended to monitor employee activity, but rather to improve their efficiency by eliminating the “middle man” in fulfilling customer orders by taking handheld scanners out of their hands and putting them on their wrists. The internal mechanisms monitoring their movements are merely intended to collect data on whether these wrist devices are actually improving efficiency. In a statement provided to entrepeneur.com, Amazon asserts that “the speculation about this patent is misguided. Every day at companies around the world, employees use handheld scanners to check inventory and fulfill orders. This idea, if implemented in the future, would improve the process for our fulfillment associates. By moving equipment to associates’ wrists, we could free up their hands from scanners and their eyes from computer screens.”

Amazon patented wristbands that spy on workers. Image source: Pixabay.

The wristbands are designed to emit ultrasonic sound pulses or radio transmissions to a central receiver, providing not only the employee’s location within the building but also the position of the worker’s hands in relation to inventory items. The wristbands may also receive signals as well, perhaps notifying employees when they are approaching the right aisle or bin. Any notion of monitoring employee whereabouts or movements is absent from the patent documents themselves.

In the era of big data, however, one could speculate on the advantages of having a massive amount of data on worker activities. Even without knowing individual workers’ IDs, having a very large amount of data on worker activity and the resulting efficiency would be valuable. Changes in systems and processes could be easily compared to previous values to judge the impact on efficiency, safety, and many other metrics. If allowed by the wearer, perhaps even heart rate and temperature could be measured to see if worker stress was being reduced or increased by changes in work systems and processes.

Taken at face value, Amazon’s contention that the wristbands are simply tools to improve efficiency seems credible. Still, would you want your boss knowing what your hands are doing all day long? Amazon fulfillment center employees could hardly be blamed for feeling a little intruded upon, if not outright surveilled. It’s important to note that this is all just theoretical at this point, much like some of Amazon’s other patented ideas like merchandise-delivering drones. Still, it’s not hard to imagine technology like this being implemented at Amazon or elsewhere. The question then becomes: Are we comfortable with this?