Amazon's delivery glasses will photograph constantly, and customers can't opt out
The glasses may take thousands of captures per shift into Amazon's AI platform, with no opt-out and no disclosed retention period.
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Bloomberg reported on September 30 (as carried by The Verge) that Amazon's delivery driver smart glasses photograph their surroundings almost constantly while in use, potentially taking several thousand captures in a single driver's typical shift, which Amazon plans to upload to its AI platform, Wellspring.
Viraj Chatterjee, Amazon's delivery technology lead, told Bloomberg the data is only used to "enhance the delivery process" and that surveillance was never the intent; asked whether customers could opt out, he answered, "We haven't thought about that."
Amazon says its systems blur faces and license plates before human review, and that images could be obtained with a warrant, but it would not say how long images are stored; customers cannot view or request deletion of photos of their property. Amazon plans 20,000 more pairs in the field by the end of 2027, after pilot drivers completed over 275,000 deliveries.