ACLU Alarm as Amazon Activates Sidewalk Surveillance System
Amazon has doubled down on its private surveillance infrastructure by activating Sidewalk, a private network to connect Amazon’s servers with smart home devices and gadgets sold by Amazon and its partner companies. With concerning privacy and security implications, this network automatically connects users’ Amazon Echo, Ring security cameras, and more to other devices and gadgets beyond their front door.
With this initiative, Amazon is once more confirming that its true allegiances do not lie with its customers; instead, the company is moving to expand its already capacious surveillance infrastructure.
Created in 1994 as an online bookstore, Amazon has grown over the past 25 years to become one of the world’s largest digital marketplaces, a growing delivery service company, a profitable cloud services provider, and even a leader of the space race.
Today, Amazon is a trillion-dollar company systematically engaged in surveillance capitalism. Powerful companies and government agencies like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security use Amazon’s cloud services platform to host myriad surveillance and policing tools. The company has a promiscuous relationship with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the sharing of customer information and unchecked government contracts.
