That’s an object lesson for Amazon warehouse workers who might soon be
VSRUWLQJHYHQPRUHLQYDVLYHWHFK 7ZRSDWHQWVIRUXOWUDVRQLFZULVWEDQGV¿OHGE\
the company have drawings of a modern-day Vetruvian Man (above) who is
fused to his workplace, detailing features such as “activate proximity signal
transmitter.” The wristbands can also use haptics to direct workers to shelves.
“Amazon’s employment practices in their warehouses are particularly onerous
in terms of how they monitor their employees and the pace at which the
HPSOR\HHVDUHH[SHFWHGWRZRUN ́VD\V3DXOD%UDQWQHUDQHPSOR\PHQWODZ\HU
DQGSUHVLGHQWDQGSULQFLSDORI3%:RUN6ROXWLRQV VKHDOVRVSHQW\HDUVDW
:RUNSODFH)DLUQHVVDQRQSUR¿WWKDWIRFXVHVRQHPSOR\HHULJKWV
BADGE OF DISHONOR
Most monitoring takes place with blue-collar jobs, but one of
the most invasive systems is concealed within the badges
some white-collar workers sling around their necks every day.
At Deloitte and Bank of America, workers have worn Humanyze badges,
which see and hear everything they do. The badges analyze a wearer’s speech
through volume and pitch, note who they spend time with, and map the
paths of their days. The tracking works via beacons placed throughout
WKHṘFH:HUHDFKHGRXWWRERWKFRPSDQLHVIRUFRPPHQW$
VSRNHVPDQIURP%DQNRI$PHULFDZRXOGQRWFRQ¿UPWKDWWKH
company was currently working with Humanyze. And as of this
writing, we haven’t received a response from Deloitte.