|
1.
|
10:00:01
|
COMM
|
It’s the largest online
retailer in the world – and has revolutionised the way we shop…..
|
|
2.
|
10:00:07
|
COMM
|
It offers everything from
bestselling books to children’s toys, and a third of all online purchases in
[upsync
– “hi!” “Thank you” ]
Britain now go through Amazon
|
|
3.
|
10:00:16
|
COMM
|
As
Amazon heads into its peak sales period, we ask whether the company is
putting profit before other priorities
Revealing the dangerous toys
for sale on the site.
|
|
4.
|
10:00:27
|
Sync
|
DEHP has been implicated in reducing male fertility…
|
|
5.
|
10:00:31
|
COMM
|
Uncovering the enormous amount
of money the company makes with our personal data…
|
|
6.
|
10:00:37
|
Sync
|
You are being surveilled at a very
intimate and very detailed level inside your home…
|
|
7.
|
10:00:44
|
COMM
|
And as Amazon launches a major
campaign claiming its warehouses are ‘a great place to work’, we go
undercover to search for the truth behind the message.
|
|
8.
|
10:00:48
|
ASTON
|
Secret Filming
|
|
9.
|
10:00:53
|
ASTON
|
Your
feet hurting?
|
|
10.
|
10:00:54
|
ASTON
|
Screaming!
|
|
11.
|
10:00:56
|
ASTON
|
Oh no.
|
|
12.
|
10:00:57
|
COMM
|
Tonight, Dispatches asks what is the hidden cost of Amazon’s unstoppable growth?
|
|
13.
|
10:01:03:00
|
TITLES
|
The Secrets
of Amazon
Dispatches
|
|
14.
|
10:01:10
|
COMM
|
Earlier this year Amazon became
the most valuable public company in the world, worth around 680 billion
pounds
|
|
15.
|
10:01:18
|
PTC
|
Nearly
NINETY percent of us enjoy all that Amazon has to offer… including cheap
prices…. Convenience….
‘Alexa
order me some more coffee and chocolates…’
And
super-fast delivery…
Oh!
|
|
16.
|
10:01:35
|
|
‘Hi.
Thank you.’
|
|
17.
|
10:01:41
|
COMM
|
The company has achieved this
domination of online shopping by creating an incredibly efficient operation.
Becoming the one-stop shop for
all you need and usually being the fastest and cheapest option.
|
|
18.
|
10:01:55
|
PTC
|
But a number of investigations into Amazon by regulators suggests
that there are major concerns about all this convenience.
This year alone….
- the European Commission is investigating anti-competitive
conduct by Amazon….
- the UK Competition & Markets Authority, its attempted
investment in Deliveroo…..
|
|
19.
|
10:02:18
|
COMM
|
Questions have also been raised
about working conditions inside Amazon’s warehouses. Amazon has an image
problem and has launched a glossy and upbeat advertising campaign to counter
it.
|
|
20.
|
10:02:29
|
ASTON
|
Amazon Fulfilment Centre Tours
TV Advertisement
|
|
21.
|
10:02:30
|
Clip
from fulfilment ad
|
I’m here
because I like the people that I work with.
I bake
cakes every Tuesday.
Ohh,
Donna’s cakes. Beautiful.
|
|
22.
|
10:02:37
|
ASTON
|
Secret
Filming
|
|
23.
|
10:02:38
|
COMM
|
But we’ve been told that
despite the expensive ad campaign, Amazon’s Fulfilment Centres- the
warehouses where goods are sorted and sent to customers- are an incredibly
tough place to work.
|
|
24.
|
10:02:51
|
COMM
|
We’re going undercover
|
|
25.
|
10:02:53
|
COMM
|
Our reporter is put on a
four-week training programme….
She’s stowing - which means she
selects items sent in by suppliers, scans them and stores them in shelving
units ready to send to buyers.
|
|
26.
|
10:03:07
|
COMM
|
It quickly becomes clear that
she is being closely monitored by the bosses.
|
|
27.
|
10:03:15
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: You should be stowing all the time.
|
|
28.
|
10:03:16
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: yeah
|
|
29.
|
10:03:17
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: If
you wait for
ten minutes without doing anything
they’re going to come to you
and ask you why you’re not stowing.
Every second you stow, they know.
|
|
30.
|
10:03:27
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: right
|
|
31.
|
10:03:28
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: They see that on the system
|
|
32.
|
10:03:30
|
COMM
|
Managers make it clear that her
focus during training should be on avoiding errors rather than speed
|
|
33.
|
10:03:36
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Manager: The main thing to focus on is quality.
Please just focus on quality.
Don’t worry about your rate.
Manager: For everybody that’s just arrived
the quality.
Please nail that quality, OK?
|
|
34.
|
10:03:47
|
COMM
|
But despite these encouraging
words, by the second week some Amazon trainers start to pile on the pressure.
|
|
35.
|
10:03:53
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: You need to be stowing every 10 seconds.
|
|
36.
|
10:03:57
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Right
|
|
37.
|
10:03:57
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
That’ll be the reason your tag time is so slow.
I’m seeing it.
Trainer: I want to see that down today
|
|
38.
|
10:04:02
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
ok
|
|
39.
|
10:04:04
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
like
15…16.
|
|
40.
|
10:04:07
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: 15..16
|
|
41.
|
10:04:08
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: Today, yeah.
|
|
42.
|
10:04:09
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: Yeah, the way is by stowing
every 10 seconds.
|
|
43.
|
10:04:13
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Every 10 OK.
|
|
44.
|
10:04:16
|
COMM
|
It amounts to a huge number of
packages each day…
|
|
45.
|
10:04:21
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: My raw calculation…
You have to stow 2000 items in a day.
|
|
46.
|
10:04:31
|
COMM
|
Even going to the loo can land
staff in trouble. Last year Amazon said they don’t monitor toilet breaks. But
our reporter is warned to avoid taking more than 10 minutes however far they
are from the loo.
|
|
47.
|
10:04:43
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Trainer: If you go to the toilet
|
|
48.
|
10:04:44
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
yeah
|
|
49.
|
10:04:45
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
make sure you go quick.
you know what I mean?
Try not to exceed ten minutes.
|
|
50.
|
10:04:50
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Yeah yeah
|
|
51.
|
10:04:51
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Anything more than ten minutes
and they might be coming to you.
Know what I
mean?
|
|
52.
|
10:04:55
|
COMM
|
We’ve spoken to a number of whistleblowers from several Amazon fulfilment centres who’ve
told us that the pace required is relentless.
|
|
53.
|
10:05:04
|
COMM
|
Our reporter finds it tough going
at times. Some colleagues she spoke to seemed happy enough with their work,
others were definitely not as joyous as the smiling workers in the glossy ad…
|
|
54.
|
10:05:15
|
ASTON
|
Amazon Fulfilment Centre Tours
TV Advertisement
|
|
55.
|
10:05:15
|
Ad clip
|
There’s fantastic benefits to having the
job.
4 days a week, 3 days off – great for our family life.
|
|
56.
|
10:05:22
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: How’s it going?
|
|
57.
|
10:05:23
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: I want to leave as soon as possible.
|
|
58.
|
10:05:26
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Oh no! Why what’s wrong?
|
|
59.
|
10:05:28
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: It’s too hard
|
|
60.
|
10:05:31
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: On stow when you do it long
you have a problem with the shoulder
|
|
61.
|
10:05:36
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: From stowing.
What’s it like at peak with stowing
Is it hard?
Or is it ok?
|
|
62.
|
10:05:43
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: It’s mixed…hurts your knees
|
|
63.
|
10:05:44
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Oh your knees…Oh!
|
|
64.
|
10:05:46
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Your feet hurting?
|
|
65.
|
10:05:47
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: Screaming!
|
|
66.
|
10:05:48
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Oh no!
I guess like not even insoles would probably
help…would they?
|
|
67.
|
10:05:53
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Colleague: I think new feet would so…
some nerve damage.
|
|
68.
|
10:05:59
|
COMM
|
Staff have told us Amazon
limits the number of full-time contracts it gives out, referred to as a ‘blue
badge’.
|
|
69.
|
10:06:07
|
COMM
|
And unavoidable absence such as
sickness may have an impact ….
|
|
70.
|
10:06:11
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Rep: When it comes to sickness,
|
|
71.
|
10:06:15
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Rep: so it will always go on your record.
So obviously when you apply
for the blue badge
Rep: sickness affects it.
|
|
72.
|
10:06:28
|
COMM
|
There have been other concerns
about staff wellbeing.
|
|
73.
|
10:06:34
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Do you know which person?
Reporter: Not been told
have we?
This is chaos.
|
|
74.
|
10:06:42
|
COMM
|
By law Amazon has a duty of
care during fire alarms, but during a fire drill our reporter and colleagues
weren’t clear on exactly where to stand and nobody seemed to be counting
staff
|
|
75.
|
10:06:53
|
U/C filming
|
Reporter: Nobody seemed to know where they had to
go.
|
|
76.
|
10:06:55
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Team leader: Because the thing is
a couple of months ago
they moved all them signs
around
|
|
77.
|
10:07:01
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Oh alright yeah.
|
|
78.
|
10:07:02
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Team leader: They haven’t had a fire alarm
and unfortunately there was
a van in the way.
|
|
79.
|
10:07:07
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: Yes there was.
|
|
80.
|
10:07:08
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Team leader: So we didn’t
know where we were going
|
|
81.
|
10:07:09
|
R2R COMM/ ASTON
|
Amazon told us “we do not
monitor toilet breaks. Nor do we make checks if an employee is away from
their station for 10 minutes. To suggest otherwise is simply wrong.
|
|
82.
|
10:07:19
|
R2R COMM/ ASTON
|
“If the instructor has provided
incorrect information, we will ensure that they receive refresher training
immediately.”
|
|
83.
|
10:07:26
|
R2R COMM
|
“…Managers stressed that the focus should be
on the customer experience and accuracy, rather than speed. As with most
companies, we expect a certain level of performance.
|
|
84.
|
10:07:35
|
R2R COMM
|
“Performance is measured and
evaluated over a long period of time as we know that a variety of things
could impact the ability to meet expectations…”
|
|
85.
|
10:07:43
|
R2R COMM
|
“We are proud of the workplace
we provide…Our associates receive industry-leading pay and benefits including
private healthcare, they are treated with respect and, most importantly, they
work in a safe, modern environment”
|
|
86.
|
10:07:56
|
R2R COMM
|
Amazon told us they conduct
fire drills following Fire Service guidance and that they have updated
assembly points signage.
|
|
87.
|
10:08:03
|
COMM
|
We also uncovered serious
questions over Amazon’s environmental claims.
|
|
88.
|
10:08:08
|
COMM
|
Amazon has pledged that it has
a ‘zero to landfill’ policy
|
|
89.
|
10:08:13
|
COMM
|
But what does happen? Our
reporter finds pallets and bins full of damaged goods with signs stating
‘destroy’ and posters around the site listing numerous reasons for damaged
products to be ‘destroyed’
|
|
90.
|
10:08:25
|
R2R COMM
|
We asked Amazon about damaged
goods and they told us:
|
|
91.
|
10:08:29
|
R2R COMM
|
“…the vast majority of returned
products are resold to other consumers or liquidators, returned to suppliers,
or donated to charitable organizations, depending on their condition….
|
|
92.
|
10:08:38
|
R2R COMM
|
“Where products are unsuitable
for re-sale or donation, our waste partner BIFFA sends these for recycling or
processes them to create fuel, avoiding landfill.”
|
|
93.
|
10:08:46
|
R2R COMM
|
Our reporter handles a lot of
excess packaging - but she’s told waste at the stowing stations is thrown
away rather than recycled.
|
|
94.
|
10:08:55
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Reporter: What am I supposed to put in that bin?
Is it a bin or is it recycling?
|
|
95.
|
10:09:00
|
ASTON/UC FILMING
|
Manager: Er no, we don’t
unfortunately have recycling
at the stations.
It’s just a bin
|
|
96.
|
10:09:05
|
R2R COMM
|
It wasn’t clear where this
went. When we asked Amazon they insisted it’s not
sent to landfill
|
|
97.
|
10:09:12
|
COMM
|
Amazon says its business model
is all about putting the customer first
|
|
98.
|
10:09:18
|
COMM
|
But does it prioritise customer
SAFETY?
|
|
99.
|
10:09:22
|
COMM
|
A duck like this one being
packed by our reporter, suggests that it might not…
|
|
100.
|
10:09:30
|
COMM
|
As well as being the fastest
and the cheapest, Amazon wants to be the ONLY place you shop online -
offering MILLIONS of listings from itself and suppliers who sell via the
site.
|
|
101.
|
10:09:41
|
COMM
|
But there can be a cost to this
too.
|
|
102.
|
10:09:44
|
PTC
|
Watchdogs and safety organisations have issued repeated warnings
about dangerous goods being sold on the site
|
|
103.
|
10:09:55
|
COMM
|
Amazon says it has proactive
programmes in place to search and identify dangerous products on its website.
|
|
104.
|
10:10:05
|
COMM
|
The company recently removed a
number of children’s toys after the EU watchdog warned they contained a
banned substance called DEHP.
|
|
105.
|
10:10:17
|
COMM
|
So has Amazon checked whether
other, similar products it sells are also dangerous? We bought these
toys.
|
|
106.
|
10:10:26
|
sync
|
-Sophie: knock knock
- hi Sophie
-hi Laurence
- Good to See you
- And you.
|
|
107.
|
10:10:30
|
Sync
|
Sophie:- I’ve
got them here today and I wondered if you could test them for us?
Laurence:- Yes
well, DEHP is used to make plastic soft, they’re plasticisers
|
|
108.
|
10:10:39
|
ASTON
|
Prod
Laurence Harwood
University
of Reading
|
|
109.
|
10:10:40
|
|
and er, DEHP in particular has been
banned by the European Union
Laurence:- Well phthalates in general and DEHP have
been implicated in er, reducing male fertility…
Laurence:- of
course this is clearly not a good idea when these are toys for children.
|
|
110.
|
10:10:53
|
COMM
|
Given the risks, the percentage
of a toy product that is allowed to be made of DEHP is extremely low.
|
|
111.
|
10:11:01
|
SYNC
|
Sophie:- how much of the compound have you found in
the toys?
there is a significant amount of DEHP in here certainly 30% and
the European law doesn’t allow more than .1%.
|
|
112.
|
10:11:15
|
COMM
|
We tested 5 toys for sale on
Amazon - 3 of which had incredibly high levels of the chemical.
|
|
113.
|
10:11:21
|
COMM
|
Testing showed that more than
30% of this red seahorse and green seal from a bath toy set was made up of
DEHP, that’s more than 300 times the legal limit.
|
|
114.
|
10:11:33
|
COMM
|
This yellow duck was more than
30% DEHP and this red octopus was even worse, it was more than 50% DEHP - 500
times the limit.
Incredibly, they were all being
described on Amazon as ‘non-toxic’
|
|
115.
|
10:11:49
|
SYNC
|
Laurence:-
children when they play with these toys put them in their mouths and just by
in fact handling them they can absorb the.
Sophie:- Just
handling them alone.
Laurence:- Just handling them.
Sophie:- But
they look so harmless.
L: They look harmless, but the phthalate will dissolve in the
fat in your tissues and you can absorb it through the skin.
S: Just by holding it?
L: Just by handling it.
|
|
116.
|
10:12:05
|
COMM
|
The EU categorises DEHP as
‘toxic for reproduction’ and research indicates that children chewing the
toys is riskier than contact with the skin
|
|
117.
|
10:12:15
|
SYNC
|
Sophie - So these soft toys they put in their mouths and hold in
their hands they come into contact with that chemical just like that.
- In this case yes with these toys.
- Wow that is absolutely appalling.
- It’s very frightening.
|
|
118.
|
10:12:27
|
COMM
|
There have also been concerns
raised about products targeted at vulnerable people.
|
|
119.
|
10:12:32
|
COMM
|
In April this year, MP Rachel
Maclean discovered that Amazon was selling books promoting anorexia
|
|
120.
|
10:12:38
|
SYNC – MP Rachel Maclean,
Parliamentary archive
|
Were you aware that tech giant Amazon is selling books under the
category of pro-ana which purport to show anorexia as a healthy lifestyle –
so does he share my revulsion that these books are available online?
|
|
121.
|
10:12:45
|
ASTON
|
Rachel
Maclean MP
30th April 2019
|
|
122.
|
10:12:52
|
COMM
|
Amazon did remove the books
highlighted by Rachel Maclean
|
|
123.
|
10:12:56
|
COMM
|
But we’ve found other books
still listed on the site and potentially sold to vulnerable customers.
|
|
124.
|
10:13:03
|
COMM
|
Dimple Thakrar
is a dietician. When she was younger she suffered
with a serious eating disorder.
|
|
125.
|
10:13:12
|
COMM
|
She searched for pro-anorexia
products and was offered a whole genre of books she believes could further
fuel an eating disorder.
|
|
126.
|
10:13:21
|
SYNC
|
Thakrar:- I
was offered up books on ……a pseudo-science that talks about living off light,
breath and water alone and zero food, this is clearly not safe.
|
|
127.
|
10:13:26
|
ASTON
|
Dimple Thakrar
Dietitian
|
|
128.
|
10:13:39
|
SYNC Dimple Thakrar
|
Thakrar:-
There’s actually a review here of, saying how tempted somebody is…….
it’s so dangerous.
|
|
129.
|
10:13:49
|
SYNC Dimple Thakrar
|
Thakrar:-
there needs to be some accountability, some responsibility by Amazon
to vet and to take care of their customers and their wellbeing.
|
|
130.
|
10:14:03
|
RTR COMM
|
When we contacted Amazon they quickly removed the toys from their site. They
added:
|
|
131.
|
10:14:09
|
RTR COMM
|
“Dispatches have refused to
provide us with the test reports for these products. Customer safety is our
top priority and we have removed these products from sale while we investigate.”
|
|
132.
|
10:14:19
|
RTR COMM
|
“As a bookseller, we provide
our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that
some customers may find objectionable..”
|
|
133.
|
10:14:28
|
COMM
|
Coming up, we reveal how Amazon
tracks us
|
|
134.
|
10:14:32
|
SYNC Prof Karen Yeung
|
Yeung:- you are being
surveilled at a
very intimate and very detailed level inside your home…
|
|
135.
|
10:14:44
|
COMM
|
Amazon has become the dominant
online retailer in Britain.
|
|
136.
|
10:14:48
|
COMM
|
But concerns about the sale of
dangerous products and working conditions inside its warehouses suggest it
may be prioritising profits
|
|
137.
|
10:14:59
|
COMM
|
Last year, there were angry
protests against working conditions at Amazon in the lead-up to Black Friday.
|
|
138.
|
10:15:05
|
COMM
|
And people were urged to
boycott the company….
|
|
139.
|
10:15:09
|
PTC
|
But that’s not as easy as you think.
Most people associate Amazon with online shopping. But its reach
is far further than that.
It has been on a takeover boom, buying companies such as Whole
Foods and Ring doorbell
And it is diversifying into areas such as medicine, procurement
and even the military
|
|
140.
|
10:15:31
|
COMM
|
And there’s another lucrative
area of growth for the company.
|
|
141.
|
10:15:36
|
COMM
|
Amazon has advertising space
across the internet. This is space it can either use to show us Amazon
products it thinks we might like or sell to other companies that might want
to target us with their products or services.
|
|
142.
|
10:15:49
|
COMM
|
Amazon knows a huge amount
about us and it uses this to target adverts at us
based on our ‘interests’.
|
|
143.
|
10:15:57
|
COMM
|
It is now the third biggest
advertising business in the world, second only to Google and Facebook.
|
|
144.
|
10:16:04
|
SYNC Karen Yeung
|
This data enables Amazon to build up quite a detailed
understanding of your habits
|
|
145.
|
10:16:10
|
ASTON
|
Prof
Karen Yeung
University of Birmingham
|
|
146.
|
10:16:10
|
|
Every single thing you look at, for how long, whether you put it
in your shopping trolley and buy it or don’t buy it and when you’re inclined
to go shopping is all tracked…..
It enables Amazon to target products towards you and services in
a very personalised manner.
|
|
147.
|
10:16:28
|
COMM
|
And there’s another way Amazon
can learn intimate details about us. There is a growing concern that millions
of us have invited a surveillance system into our homes.
|
|
148.
|
10:16:39
|
SYNC Prof Yeung
|
You’ll start issuing instructions to Alexa about when you want
the lights on, when you want to turn the music on…what kind of general
information might be interesting to you and all of the data about those
behaviours can be collected by Amazon
|
|
149.
|
10:16:54
|
SYNC Prof Yeung
|
you are being surveilled at a very
intimate and very detailed level inside your home…
|
|
150.
|
10:17:05
|
COMM
|
Amazon doesn’t just collect
data about us on its own site and devices
Like other big tech companies,
Amazon places tracking software called cookies across a range of sites to
learn more about us
|
|
151.
|
10:17:23
|
Sync
|
Simon:- When you go on a site cookies will identify
who you are and associate that with other information that the organisations
already have about you.
|
|
152.
|
10:17:26
|
ASTON
|
Simon McDougall
Information Commissioner’s Office
|
|
153.
|
10:17:32
|
COMM
|
The cookies don’t collect your
name or address, but can often identify you by
things like your device.
|
|
154.
|
10:17:41
|
COMM
|
But there are concerns about
the TYPE of sites where advertising companies including Amazon are tracking
you and collecting your data.
|
|
155.
|
10:17:50
|
COMM
|
We commissioned WebXray
to look at 2000 mental health websites.
|
|
156.
|
10:17:56
|
SYNC Paul May, WebXray & Sophie
|
Sophie:- what did you find?
Paul:- We
found that when you search for, er very
|
|
157.
|
10:18:02
|
ASTON
|
Paul May
WebXray
|
|
158.
|
10:18:02
|
|
sensitive mental health conditions on the internet….
….99% of the pages that we looked at contained third-party
tracking.
Paul:-
these are all of the companies that are collecting information about
the users
Sophie:- So
where does Amazon come into this?
…just under a fifth of these pages Amazon advertising services
are collecting information about you.
What we’re looking at here is all of the pages where Amazon
collects information about you.
I think most people would have a gut reaction, ‘why do you, an
advertiser, need to see exactly what mental health conditions I’m currently…
worried about……
|
|
159.
|
10:18:45
|
COMM
|
One website we look at offers
advice on anorexia.
|
|
160.
|
10:18:49
|
SYNC Paul May and Sophie
|
Sophie:- So is Amazon on here?
Paul:- Yeah
absolutely, as you can see Amazon Ad System is right there.
Paul:- the cookies have already loaded on
the browser and they’re already communicating sensitive information about
you…..
Sophie:- It’s, it’s shocking and I think it’s really
frightening.
|
|
161.
|
10:19:08
|
COMM
|
And it appears this cookie
could be collecting information about potentially vulnerable people for a
long time.
|
|
162.
|
10:19:15
|
SYNC Sophie and Paul May
|
Paul:-
this expiration date of the cookie indicates that it’s a persistent
cookie which means it’s going to live in your browser and collect information
about you until,
Sophie:- Until
2025?
Paul:- apparently
so.
Sophie:- so this
cookie is going to be following me around for the, till 20, till January
2025?
Paul:- 5.34,
precisely yeah.
Sophie:- What on
earth?
Paul:- Yeah,
Sophie:- I don’t understand how that can be allowed
to happen.
Sophie:- I think people don’t realise just how, how
much they are being tracked and followed?
|
|
163.
|
10:19:54
|
COMM
|
Critics say the collection of
such data is happening on a huge scale across the advertising industry….
… And very little is known
about the extent of it.
|
|
164.
|
10:20:06
|
SYNC Frederike Kaltheuner,
data exploitation lead, Privacy International.
|
You just go to a mental
health website, you do not expect Amazon Marketing Services to know that
you’re depressed, it’s just utterly unacceptable
There’s a reason why this
is protected information knowing that somebody is depressed means that you
can target them when they’re at their most vulnerable.
|
|
165.
|
10:20:11
|
ASTON
|
Frederike Kaltheuner
Privacy International
|
|
166.
|
10:20:23
|
COMM
|
So does Amazon Advertising use
this information to target vulnerable customers?
|
|
167.
|
10:20:29
|
RTR COMM/ASTON
|
Amazon strongly denied this and
told us: “We take the privacy and security of our customers’ personal
information seriously…”
|
|
168.
|
10:20:37
|
RTR COMM/ASTON
|
“From an advertising
perspective, we do not use information from publisher websites to inform
advertising audience segments.
|
|
169.
|
10:20:43
|
RTR COMM/ASTON
|
“As the operators of their
website, publishers manage consent for cookies used on their site. To suggest
otherwise is simply wrong.”
|
|
170.
|
10:20:53
|
RTR COMM
|
The Information Commissioners
Office are concerned that a fiercely competitive online advertising market is
causing companies across the industry to collect increasingly personal data
about us
|
|
171.
|
10:21:05
|
SYNC – Simon McDougall, ICO
|
Simon:-
……. we think there are unlawful practices within this industry
Simon:- the market has
evolved to a, a unhealthy state where the only way that publishers and others
can be competitive is to channel more and more data about people into the
transactions they are doing, so there’s an arms race to get more and more
personalised.
|
|
172.
|
10:21:12
|
ASTON
|
Simon McDougall
Information Commissioner’s Office
|
|
173.
|
10:21:26
|
Sync
|
it feels creepy, its
feels intrusive, it feels disproportionate….
|
|
174.
|
10:21:30
|
COMM
|
What gives Amazon a real
advantage over other advertising companies is that it has access to our
shopping and device data, alongside information collected by cookies.
|
|
175.
|
10:21:41
|
COMM/aston
|
In fact, Amazon boasts to
potential advertisers of its “unique first-party observations across billions
of customer journeys”.
|
|
176.
|
10:21:52
|
PTC
|
Yet, despite the methods used to collect this data and the
multi-billion pound fortune that Amazon has amassed
from it, we as customers get paid nothing for it.
In fact, as a country, it appears we are paying Amazon money.
|
|
177.
|
10:22:12
|
SYNC Sophie and Alexa
|
Sophie - Alexa how much tax does Amazon pay in the UK?
Alexa - Amazon is compliant with all UK tax laws as with every
country it operates in.
|
|
178.
|
10:22:22
|
PTC
|
Amazon’s revenue in the UK is approximately 11billion
Yet it paid 220million in tax last year – that’s about 2 per
cent
|
|
179.
|
10:22:35
|
SYNC Judith Freedman
|
There is a clear and
understandable perception that Amazon does not pay enough tax in the UK
|
|
180.
|
10:22:45
|
ASTON
|
Prof Judith Freedman
University of Oxford
|
|
181.
|
10:22:43
|
SYNC Judith Freedman
|
It is tax structuring to
reduce the tax payable and that might be objectionable to some people, but
it’s not breaking the law.
The current international
tax system doesn’t work as well as it used to and almost certainly needs to
be redesigned. and that is the responsibility of governments.
|
|
182.
|
10:23:11
|
COMM
|
But, rather than redesign the system to ensure
Amazon pays more tax - the Government has embraced Amazon instead….
|
|
183.
|
10:23:20
|
COMM
|
And that’s through its enormous
web-hosting operation which is now the biggest in the world
|
|
184.
|
10:23:27
|
COMM
|
Numerous companies and
organisations use Amazon Web Services including Netflix, BP, Unilever, NASA
the BBC Iplayer and Channel 4.
|
|
185.
|
10:23:39
|
PTC
|
But it has also been awarded lucrative public service
contracts….
Dispatches has found, that as well as an up to £400 million
procurement contract in Yorkshire, the Government has paid Amazon at least
£78 million to provide the web services for several government departments
such as the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health,.…and, perhaps most
surprisingly, HMRC.
|
|
186.
|
10:24:06
|
PTC
|
Since 2017 HMRC has awarded Amazon more than £26 million pounds
worth of contracts
|
|
187.
|
10:24:14
|
COMM
|
That money is being paid to
Amazon Web Services. A part of the company that is headquartered
in…Luxembourg
|
|
188.
|
10:24:21
|
R2R COMM/ ASTON
|
Amazon told us…
“We have invested more than
£18bn in UK jobs and infrastructure since 2010 and by the end of this year we
will have over 29,500 UK employees.
|
|
189.
|
10:24:33
|
R2R COMM/ ASTON
|
This investment helped
contribute £220m in direct taxes and £573m in indirect taxes.”
|
|
190.
|
10:24:42
|
R2R COMM
|
“With regards to the UK branch
of AWS, it records all sales in the UK and pays all applicable taxes in the
UK. Government departments using AWS are enjoying cost savings of up to 60%.”
|
|
191.
|
10:24:58
|
COMM CONCLUSIONS
|
Amazon is showing no signs of
slowing down its incredible growth as a company.
The question is - is the
convenience and speed it offers, worth the price we
all have to pay in the UK?
|
|
192.
|
10:25:10
|
|
CREDITS
|
