Amazon Leaks

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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•••

Amazon gathers a lot of information about its customers, from what they read and watch to what they search for and buy. And the company says customers trust it to keep their data safe. But internal memos and people who have worked inside Amazon paint a different picture.

Reveal found Amazon’s intense focus on growth left the company vulnerable to serious security risks. Amazon couldn’t track where all of its data was, according to a former executive. Customer service employees had the ability to look up the shopping history of celebrities, and some shady companies went through a back door to take the personal information of millions of Amazon shoppers. When Amazon found out, it kept it a secret from its customers.

Customer data wasn’t the only thing at risk. As a result of the company’s security struggles, corruption spread and independent sellers on Amazon’s marketplace have suffered attacks. Reveal explores the cutthroat world of Amazon sellers.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Alan. I hope 2022 has been a good year for you. But to be honest, it's been a tough one for us.
0:08.0	This year, Reveal was struck by a financial crisis that jeopardized our very existence.
0:14.0	But we've rallied, and all the while that was happening, our staff forged ahead to produce ambitious investigations
0:22.0	that exposed corruption and abuses that the powerful interests did not want revealed.
0:27.0	Because that's what we do. If we're going to keep telling these kind of stories though, we're going to need support from you.
0:34.0	To support fearless investigative nonprofit journalism, please donate by December 31st.
0:41.0	Just visit revealnews.org slash 2023. Again, to donate to the show and to support our work into the future.
0:48.0	Please visit revealnews.org slash 2023. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
1:01.0	Support for this podcast comes from Wise, the universal account that lets you spend and receive money internationally.
1:07.0	With one account for over 50 currencies, who exactly is Wise made for? It's made for Austrians in Australia.
1:14.0	South Africans in Sweden. It's made for New Delhi, New York, and even regular York.
1:19.0	When you use Wise to manage your money across borders, you always get the mid-market exchange rate with no markups and no hidden fees.
1:27.0	Join 13 million customers and learn how the Wise account could work for you at Wise.com slash reveal.
1:34.0	From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is reveal. I'm Ike Sri Skantharaja, sitting in for Al Letson.
1:48.0	We're taking a break from our series on Billy Joe Johnson to bring you this story.
1:54.0	It's that magical time of year again and you're probably spending too much time online shopping. No lines, endless choices, safe, easy, secure, or at least that's the pitch for Cyber Monday.
2:12.0	There are tons of incredible Cyber Monday deals available on Amazon this week and free shipping on over 100 million items.
2:19.0	In a little over a week, a ton of people will go on Amazon to shop for holiday gifts.
2:27.0	By one count, more than half the adults in the US are using PRY. Just think about that.
2:34.0	While you might not care who finds out what gifts you bought, there's probably some stuff you do buy that you wouldn't want people to know.
2:44.0	Because if you think about it, Amazon knows a lot about you. From the brand of tampons you order to the anxiety medication you take, Amazon knows every book you've read on Kindle, the movies you've streamed on Prime, do you use Ring?
3:02.0	Well then, Amazon could know who's at your front door. And yeah, don't forget about Alexa.
	...

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