Read this article from MIT Technology Review and write a blog post of 250 to 500 words answering the following questions:
According to the article, what role does Amazon play in providing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with software used in tracking down and deporting immigrants?
Is this practice in conflict with Amazon’s core values as described in its mission statement?
Publish your reply here (you’ll have to scroll down to the bottom) by Monday February 4 at 9am.
Amazon’s influence and power has grown immensely in the past decade due to the increasing trend of online shopping. The company has expanded its borders by acquiring startups and other companies and has been known as a tech giant around the world. According to the article from MIT Technology Review, entitled “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown”, Amazon has provided the resources for companies as Palantir to secure contracts with the government. It is known that Amazon holds the largest amount of federal authorizations for cloud servicing needed to run ICM, Investigative Case Management system, which is used by ICE. Since ICM is being moved to AWS, Amazon Web Services, Amazon will have more control over data collected by law enforcement agencies. Not only will Amazon’s hold on federal agencies increase, but it is receiving profits for outsourcing its technology. It is a reckless move by Amazon to sell its data and software to the government, where many lives will become insecure. As a tech giant, Amazon should stray away from dealings with the government and focus more on the interests of the consumers. Though it may be considered an economic advantage to the company by securing ties with the government, such as a potential $10 billion Department of Defense contract, it puts millions of people under threat as their sensitive information is available in the public domain. With such influence around the world, Amazon should adhere to ethical standards to help their consumers than turning their backs on them.
Amazon’s current trend in gaining more power with government contracts blatantly goes against its core values and mission. From its beginning, this was a company centered around the consumer, to provide the goods and services they want from the internet. The company’s growing friendship with the government has contrasted with the wishes of its consumers. In order to be a customer friendly company, Amazon should be wise and protect its consumers rather than sell their data to the government. Amazon’s continuous bid with law enforcement agencies puts many people in danger, including those who haven’t committed a crime. I believe that Amazon should uphold its core values and not interfere with the government’s practices.
Great summary, thank you! You make an insightful point that by providing infrastructure to certain government programs, Amazon is effectively undermining its relationship with those consumers who are Amazon clients and disagree with the programs Amazon provides infrastructure for.
But one could also say that for Amazon, the U.S. government is a client/consumer to whom it should, in accordance with its mission statement, provide the goods and services it wants from the internet.
I agree with your response Basil. I completely agree that Amazon is soon becoming a monopoly when it comes to online data and resources that we don’t bat an eye. However, as this power goes into the wrong hands like ICE under the administration of Trump. It spells bad things for the immigrants in America. Many immigrants shop on amazon and if true they have companies with facial recognition it will violate our civil rights to privacy.
I agree if government gets to get the power and all of that stored information the immigrants reported preentage would become a lot higher.
I agree with your ideas. Technology is used for improving quality of people’s life. What Amazon doing right now, are against their core value and consumers and the meaning of technology. They are harm their consumers and innocents. On the other hand, the CEO of Amazon are doing that anything can help improve Amazon in economically. There are good and bad for Amazon.
I agree with your statement on how Amazon should not interfere with government programs since it puts people in danger. It definitely has affected it’s relationship with it’s customers.
Since its conception, Amazon has become a household name. Through its many functions as a shopping platform, an on-demand video service, and a virtual assistant in the form of Alexa, it is undeniable that it has made experiences more convenient for its users. However, as activist organizations have found, Amazon has also allied itself with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in their quest to track down and deport immigrants. Karen Hao’s “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown” explores Amazon’s central role in ICE’s startling increase in arrests. Its primary role is in providing the data mining company Palantir a server in which to store all the data that they collect. This data accumulates several personal information such as “a person’s immigration history, family relationships, personal connections, addresses, phone records, [and] biometric traits,” all of which are used to track down immigrants. In addition to this, Amazon placed a bid for a “$10 billion contract with the Department of Defense to modernize the agency’s computing infrastructure.” As one of Amazon’s employees put it, Amazon is creating a “system for dangerous mass surveillance” that violates the privacy and risks the security of its user base. The CEO of Amazon justifies his actions as he believes them to be “the right decision, even when it’s unpopular.”
Amazon’s mission statement to be “earth’s most customer-centric company” can be manipulated in such a way that their current dealings with the government does not conflict with it. Given that the government is paying for their services, Amazon can very easily make the case that they are simply providing their services to another “customer.” By doing so, the manner in which they are serving the government would align with their mission of being “customer-centric.” While this reading does not make their actions any more ethical, as it is a gross misconstruing of their mission statement, it essentially gives them a pass. However, I personally believe that it violates their mission statement to be providing surveillance tools that endangers its customers. Even if it treated the government only as another of its many customers, knowingly aiding in an effort than can harm its other customers shows a complete disregard for their safety. If Amazon were to truly uphold its mission statement, it would put more consideration into what its technology can do and is doing because despite the CEO’s supposed good intentions, it does not justify the negative consequences.
Thanks for this clear and concise summary of the MIT Technology Review article by Karen Hao. I agree that Amazon’s mission statement is worded in such a way that the practice of providing web services to ICE doesn’t run counter to it. I also agree that the facilitation of invasive surveillance runs counter to customer care. Your point that Amazon should think more about the potential effects of the technology it hosts is important and particularly troubling given that, according to Hao, “little is known about how the [data mining] software actually works.”
I agree with your statement that Amazon’s actions violate the customer’s rights to privacy, and that it violates their mission statement. Amazon should be all about the customer, and although they found a loophole in their statement like you said, I agree that it is against the true meaning behind their mission statement and is quite unethical.
I agree if government gets to get the power and all of that stored information the immigrants reported preentage would become a lot higher.
I agree with Vince; Amazon should be more careful with who they are selling their data to. If Amazon truly does have good intentions, it would never do such a thing as sell sensitive data to ICE. I believe the only good intentions the CEO of Amazon sees in this is the huge monetary gain and profit the company would receive. Good intentions should never involve putting people in harm’s way.
I agree with your statement when you said that Amazon is violating its mission statement. What Amazon is providing US customs is not even mentioned in its mission statement. You also mentioned that Amazon is treating the government as one of its customers which does make sense. I do agree when you also said that Amazon is also harming other customers. This is something Amazon should stop. They are helping the government while harming the other customers. Going back to the mission statement what they are doing now has nothing to do with their mission statement.
I totally agree that Amazon should be more true to their mission statement instead of trying to please the CEO. I also agree that providing surveillance interferes with the privacy of their consumers. Your answers were very well put together and it was easy to follow.
I agree with your statement on how Amazon’s mission statement can actually work around their deal with the government because technically they are just another customer. I do agree also on how doing that is not ethical
According to the article, “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown,” Amazon provides cloud services to government agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE collects data to build profiles of undocumented persons, with the intent to deport them. In the article, it states that Amazon holds the largest share of federal authorizations, verifying that cloud providers have the necessary security requirements to process, store, and transmit government data and holds 62% of the highest level authorizations which is needed to handle data for law enforcement systems.
Amazon’s support in gaining power with the government goes against its core values. The company’s choice to work alongside the government goes against its mission of enhancing customer experience. By selling consumers data to the government, Amazon is putting its costumers in danger, including those who are innocent. Amazon should follow its mission statement and core values and withdraw from working with the government.
The federal authorizations held by Amazon that you draw our attention to are a key component of this issue, for they keep the business closed to competitors and in Amazon’s hands. Surveillance is indeed potentially dangerous, especially when we don’t know what data is being collected or what’s being done with it. I don’t, however, think that working with the government is so much the problem as working with this particular government agency in this particular way.
The role that Amazon play in providing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with software used in tracking down and deporting immigrants is that Amazon seems to not do their job correctly. Amazon came to the business world to sell goods and to allow other small companies to sell their products in their website, which is their main goal mentioned in the article “What Is Amazon’s Mission Statement?” However according to the article “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown” Amazon seems to step away from its mission, instead it is involved in immigration issues that many Americans does not want to see. It is stated in the article that Amazon collects personal data of Immigrant families which includes phone records, family relationships, addresses, and other information. As a result, it is getting paid up to $600,000 per month from Palantir. Today for a company, this is a huge benefit but Amazon doing this kind of activities is taking away individual liberty, which is against the basic principles of America.
Amazon practicing these activities can harm their actual mission. As mentioned earlier that it can be a sign of them moving away from their actual goal. According to the article “What Is Amazon’s Mission Statement,” “Amazon is one of the most successful business in the world” and if they continue to work as tracking down and deporting immigrants then they will lose their trust and their marketing rate may go down as a result. For example, when Amazon users purchase their choice of goods, they are providing them with their credit card and billing information which means they are trusting Amazon. If this trust goes away, then their business will go downhill. There are people now who are protesting against ICE stated in the article “The Power of ‘Abolish ICE’.” This article can now raise concern to Amazon buyers whether they should continue to trust Amazon with their credit card and billing information. At some point, there might be a situation where Amazon buyers will not show their interest in buying goods from them due to the growth of the relationship between Amazon and ICE.
I absolutely agree. Why couldn’t Amazon stick to selling consumer goods? It was doing that very well. The answer, I suppose, is to make more money. With regard to your insightful question of whether Amazon will overreach itself, who knows, but I wouldn’t be surprised if questionable practice would cause a lot of people to turn away.
I 100% agree with you. Amazon selling consumers information to the government can lead to their business decreasing. By going against their mission statement and core values, they are harming their market rate. Amazon should stick to selling goods to protect their costumers and continue being the one of the most successful businesses in the world.
I think the reason that Amazon doing this is because they want to be on the top of technology giant, they want to monopoly market, that’s what the business man always want, the rule of business. They won’t care about the innocents. I’m not sure Amazon will goes down or not if they keep helping government on immigrants. The reason is the consumers of Amazon are either immigrants or nonimmigrants, unless there are better companies than Amazon.
I definitely agree. I think the reason why Amazon is doing this to begin with is just to make more money. Customers who know about this practice and disagree with it might stop using Amazon and bring their business elsewhere.
I can agree with you on how Amazon’s relationship with the government can show a distance in relationship from mainly selling items to regular consumers. And it is also plausible when u mentioned how immigrants will lose trust in using Amazon for future purchases.
Amazon has played as central a role as Palantir in providing key program for Ice. In return, government give them an outsize number of government contracts. Under the software they provide to ICE, they arrest 42% of immigrants compared to the same period in last year. Amazon helped ICE to profile immigrants by collecting data such as fingerprints, face records, intent to deport them. Amazon holds the largest share(22%) in online government database, and 62% of highest-level authorizations.
In Amazon’s Mission Statement, they would like to be the earth’s most customer-centric company, which provide a place where people can find and buy what they want online. But what Amazon doing right, it’s harming their customers, they are putting them in danger. In their statement, they should protect all customers’ information, not by selling them to government to get an outsized contracts from government. They are going against their statements
I agree with your opinion that if Amazon wants to be a “customer-centric company” like they said in their mission statement, then they shouldn’t sell out their customers’ information. They are indeed going against their statement, however in my opinion I also feel that they haven’t entirely gone against their statement as it is possible that customers can still buy almost whatever they want at their website. In addition I liked your description of Amazon’s role in ICE as it was specific and clear.
The way you used the mission statement is very true and valid as an argument. I didn’t even consider that with amazon profiting off of ICE, they could be harming their own customers.
I agree with your argument, amazon is not going against their mission statement and you can say that the US government is also a customer of Amazon, because Amazon is getting paid for their services.
According to the MIT Technology Review article titled “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’S immigration crackdown”, the role Amazon plays in ICE’S tracking down and deporting of illegal immigrants is providing services for Palantir. Palantir is the company which created the Investigative Case Management system which collects data from local law enforcement agencies and other various sources which create profiles to help track down and deport illegal immigrants. All of the data that the ICM collected is being moved to Amazon Web Services, AWS is a giant server that is used to store information and data, it is important to note that AWS is used by many other major companies such as Netflix. The role that Amazon plays is basically providing storage for data collected by the ICM, Amazon has nothing to do with what type of data is being stored.
This practice is not in conflict with Amazon’s core value because as Amazons mission statement states “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online”. Their mission statement is what they do on an everyday basis, according to tech crunch Amazon’s share of the US e-commerce market is now 49%. This is what Amazon set out to accomplish and they succeeded, Amazon became the 2nd company to hit a $1 Trillion evaluation only preceded by Apple, and is known worldwide for their services. I don’t believe Amazon providing services to ICM is against their core values, after all the ICM is just a software utilized by ICE to help them apprehend and deport illegal immigrants, nowhere in Amazon’s mission statement does it mention anything remotely similar and nor does it go against their core values.
Super clear explanation of what exactly Amazon’s role is in providing ICE with ICM software. Your analysis is keen and convincing and you make a very good case that Amazon is not going against the core values it espouses in its mission statement. The counter view point expressed in other posts in this blog is, in my opinion, a strong argument as well. I think it comes down to the question of what exactly it means to be “customer-centric.” Does it mean that Amazon commits to selling people anything they want to buy, or does “customer-centric” also mean providing customers with services which will not harm them in any way?
Even though I disagree your argument is easy to understand. You prove your point by explaining that Netflix is also using Amazon databases to store data and this is what ICM is also doing. You also make a point that Amazon is following their mission statement. Is this most “customer-centric company” though? It is interesting because if Amazon is providing ICM with these databases to harm individuals futures and safety can it be really called a “customer-centric company?
I agree with your argument about Amazon’s mission statement. Although it is ethically wrong, Amazon just considers the government as another customer. Although, it is not very “customer-centric” of them to put their customers in harms way.
According to the article, Amazon plays a critical role in providing ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, with software used in tracking down and deporting immigrants. The Investigative Case Management system (ICM) plays a crucial role in ICE’s deportation operations as it combines a large ecosystem of public and private data. As a data mining company, Palantir designed the ICM in which the combined data can be used to track down immigrants and may even deport them. However, a question still remains: where and how does Amazon play into all of this? Three activist organizations, Mijente, the National Immigration Project, and the Immigrant Defense Project, have discovered that Amazon has actually been providing Palantir with a backbone infrastructure. Not only does Amazon provide the infrastructure, but they also provide the federal government with a service by which their massive amount of government contracts are secured. To use Amazon’s servers, Palantir currently pays around $600,000 a month. According to the chart in the article, Amazon holds 95 out of 154 highest-level authorizations.
Although Amazon provides a highly significant service for Palantir, ICE, and the government, it does not do justice for many of the Amazon employees. Amazon aims to be earth’s most customer-centric company, as stated in their mission statement. In order to be a customer-centric company, Amazon must create a positive experience for the customer. According to a report from expandedramblings.com, Amazon currently has 300 million active customers. Their new and powerful surveillance tools, however, have and will continue to be used to target innocent people. By continuing to sell, design, and market their services to the government and other law enforcement agencies, Amazon is putting their own customers in danger because any one of them could be one of those innocent people that are being targeted. Amazon, therefore, does not fulfill their mission statement and rather conflicts with their core values. A customer-centric company would not ignore the fact that their actions and practices are placing innocent people in positions that would get them targeted. Customers are supposed to have a positive experience with Amazon, not an experience in which they fear the possibility of becoming a target.
I found that your explanation on the current situation with Amazon and their ties to ICE was very thorough and well stated. It was a noteworthy point to make that Amazon may harm their own customers due to their cooperation with the government in providing surveillance tools, and I couldn’t agree more that this is in conflict with their mission statement.
I agree when you said that Amazon should have a positive affect on the costumer because if they state that it is customer- centric then they should do whats best for the customer. With that being said they do target innocent people and it seems in a way that its more anti consumer friendly is tyhey are targeting immigrant within their own site.
Amazon is helping the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency with a mass surveillance program. AWS contains many immigration databases that is used by the DHS. Databases include fingerprint and face scans that are critical for national security. Amazon gets paid by the DHS for the use of these databases. Amazon also has a major role in improving the computing system of the US Military operations. Amazon plays a major role with the software which gets used with custom enforcement agencies that help protect the borders. It also provides the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency with facial recognition that is used by law enforcement. This is not something to take lightly Amazon is providing border control with all of these tools that can modernize border control. This will result in improving National Security as a whole. According to the article Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown “Amazon is now bidding for a $10 billion contract with the Department of Defense to modernize the agency’s computing infrastructure and integrate all US military operation into a single platform.” Amazon CEO is willing to support the DoD and thinks it is critical that the DoD receive the help they need. This helps the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency but it is against the belief of many citizens. Many citizens such as civil rights activist and many Amazon employees believe that the software is being used in a harmful ways . They believe that Amazon is doing something that hurts people’s rights as citizens.
This was not Amazon initial intention as a company. Amazon mission statement is “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer centric company to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy or sell online.” Nowhere in its mission statement says to improve national security. This does create a conflict with Amazon’s purpose. Amazon was meant to be worldwide friendly and everyone in the world should have access to the good use of Amazon. Just in the United States people who are civil rights activist believe that Amazon is being used in harmful ways. Amazon was meant to be people friendly worldwide. What Amazon is doing right is ruining the future chances for many people who are striving to find a better life. Amazon was meant to be a new way of people buying and selling things online of all sorts things. This is the purpose of Amazon. To make finding things online easier to find and buy. If Amazon continue to provide US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency with software that tracks and deports immigrants then Amazon has left its own mission statement and should find a way to stay focused on their mission.
The way you explained how Amazon cooperates with ICE was very well said. You worded it in a way that anyone can understand which is a great skill. Your argument about the mission statement was also very clear and well said. I did not even think about how Amazon was affecting peoples’ futures until I read what you said.
Amazon has rapidly grown to dominate the business world on a large scale. In America, people constantly purchase their own needs and wants through this platform and its 2 million third party sellers. What its consumers are not fully aware of is that their very own, beloved supplier plays a major role in the tracking down and deportation of immigrants. According to an article featured in MIT Technology Review, Amazon has become closely involved with ICE and its parent agency: the Department of Homeland Security. From the beginning of the Trump administration to now, these agencies have a hundred thousand dollar contract with Amazon and have been “gaining mass surveillance and targeting immigrants at an unprecedented scale.” By providing these services, Amazon benefits financially but suffers in regards to public relations.
When working closely with such organizations, Amazon exploits their own power for something so dangerous and careless. Their mission statements reads, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they may want to buy online.” Amazon’s services and technology currently have been contradicting their own statement. Through their “right decisions,” Amazon has proven that they have transitioned from a costumer centric company to a money centric company. They claim that the programs funded by ICE are not harmful. Involvement with the government is not as easy to maintain and the relationship may not sit well with the public. Other companies like Google and Microsoft have broken ties with the government at the first sign of any public backlash.
Amazon’s mission statement has become an ironic one. It was predicted that the successful company would continue expanding into the future but it seems to be in ways that would threaten its own consumers.
When you said the word “dominate” it felt really powerful because that does seem like what Amazon is doing according to the article. I totally agree that Amazon has not been following their mission statement, but rather going against it. They have gone down a dangerous and careless road because they want to dominate.
I really likes how you said that Amazon has become less costumer centric and more money centric because with all big companies thats what happens when government organization are handing out money for help and agency manipulating and targeting the innocent. The reason why Google and Microsoft broke tie is that companies like those what to maintain their reputation and not face public backlash.
Amazon plays an important role in the deportation operations conducted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency after the election of president Trump. A news investigation conducted by organizations Mijente, the National Immigration Project, and the Immigration Defense Project has found that Amazon has played a critical role in providing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the infrastructure necessary for programs. It was also found that all the data that ICM uses in order to track immigrants are being moved to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Since Amazon holds a 22% share of federal authorizations that indicates that it has the necessary security requirements to transport government data, it gave ICE plenty of incentive to choose AWS. Although this only reveals that Amazon is being used as a cloud for ICE’s operations, it can turn heads and give people reason to question the morals of Amazon and whether they are really adhering to their mission statement.
This practice conflicts with Amazon’s core values since they are providing ICE with the services necessary to deport their very own customers. According to their mission statement, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Their statement entails that they want to provide for customers with anything they may want to buy online, but nowhere do they mention their concerns for national security or intentions to market their services with the government. If the goal is to provide consumers with goods, there is no need to venture into other services especially with their recent success. Their current ties to government organizations may threaten their consumerism demonstrated in their mission statement due to their current practices involving mass surveillance.
Amazon, throughout the years, has become a very large and successful company by selling consumer goods online. I agree with you that Amazon doesn’t need to go beyond their borders, just for some monetary gain, to help government agencies with deportation services. As a company that is endowed by their customers, many of them in the United States, Amazon should rethink its decisions and do what is best for the consumer.
Aman, I agree with the fact that you said Amazon never mention anything about working with the government or work for national security because, in my opinion, I think that due Amazon being a dominant marketing company allows them to think that they can take over the US security system by having relation with ICE. However, I think that would be wrong because it creates the violation of people trusting Amazon and proving their billing information when they are purchasing. Therefore, relating to you I also feel that Amazon should limit their relation with ICE rather focus on how they can value their customers more as the years go by.
I agree that Amazon’s actions are in conflict with their core values and their mission statement. They violate customer’s privacy and are causing harm to many families, which is doing the opposite of what they supposedly say they are: a customer-centric platform made to be all about the consumer.
Amazon Web Services provides the use of their servers to the Investigative Case Management System (ICM) for about 600,000 a month. The ICM was designed by Palantir, a data mining company, that basically provides ICE with the software to deport immigrants. The ICM is a key component of how ICE operates- specifically, how ICE uses a system of public and private data to track down immigrants. ICM actually fuels the targeting and deportation of immigrants. The role that Amazon plays in supporting ICE is almost as important as the role that Palantir, the company at the center of criticism for supporting ICE in separating migrant children from their parents, plays in supporting ICE. Not only does Amazon Web Services fuel ICM, but it hosts many other databases that include biometric data for over two hundred million individuals. These data systems play an increasingly important role in the enforcement of immigration in the United States.
Although the actions of Amazon Web Services are against the beliefs of many US citizens, they do not necessarily conflict with the mission statement of Amazon. Amazon states that they want to be a “consumer-centric” company which could mean many different things. I believe that they are using consumer centric to basically communicate that they want to commit to selling people anything they may want to buy. It can actually be observed that this mission statement is extremely broad, and nowhere does it mention that Amazon cannot use their services for national security or that Amazon must be “friendly” to all Americans. The mission statement is only concerned with being able to provide customers with the products they want.
Shivani, this was a very good analysis. Compared to my own view you have a completely different outlook on the situation. I do agree that their definition of being a “consumer-centric company” can be interpreted in many ways. The way I interpret that statement is that Amazon aims to show a sense of care to its consumers, since they really are what fuels the company. By collaborating with ICE, Amazon is betraying its consumers by displaying that their care for receiving money is more important than its consumers. They are using their power against their own claims. However, I will say that your very own interpretation is a very interesting and excellent one.
Shivani your description of Amazon’s role with ICE is very clear and concise. Your opinion on the interpretation of Amazon wanting to be “customer-centric company” was very similar to mine when I first read the article. Just because they want to customer-centric doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to sell their customers information, as Amazon’s main focus is allowing their customer to nearly purchase anything they want on their website. However, I feel that if you want to be a truly customer-centric company you should satisfy and attend the customers needs and wants, and I don’t think the customers would want Amazon to be selling their information.
According to the article, Amazon plays a very central role in providing the ICE with software that tracks down and deports immigrants in America. This software, referred to as ICM, is being collected on a data mining software called Palantir. Since Amazon holds the highest number of federal authorizations, the algorithms and data that power ICM are now being transferred to AWS. AWS also holds the core data system of the USCIS and biometric data for 230 million individuals. All of this data is used to help ICE and Homeland Security with Immigration enforcement. Amazon also sells Rekognition, a facial recognition platform, to law enforcement officials. Amazon, using AWS and all the tracking platforms it contains, is responsible for infiltrating the lives of all individuals in America to not only form a powerful alliance with ICE and DHS, but to aid these departments and become the backbone of their investigations.
Amazon’s mission statement of being the “earth’s most customer-centric company” can be interpreted in different ways. On one hand, the US Government can be seen as a customer, which upholds their statement. In a way, they are just providing the government with the information that they have. On the other hand, selling dangerous surveillance platforms goes against their customer care completely. Having such strong connections to ICE and DHS also counters being “customer-centric” because it is detrimental to the relationship between Amazon and its customers who are against this alliance.
I agree with how you interpret Amazon’s mission statement, I made the same case in my earlier response. It seems very underhanded for them to be working for the government in the guise of just providing service for another customer. What they are doing is in fact putting their customers’ safety and privacy at risk, which, as you said, is detrimental to the relationship that Amazon has with its customers.
Amazon plays a big role in ICE deporting immigrants as they allow Palantic to use their servers to track immigrants. According to Karen Hao’s document ,”Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown”, “Palantir pays approximately $600,000 a month for the use of its servers, according to the report’s authors.” Later in the document Hao also states that amazon has the “largest share of federal authorizations under the FedRAMP program.” This shows that Amazon has access to a lot of different people’s personal information. Then on top of that Amazon tried to sell Rekognition to ICE, a system that can scan people’s face even though it was proven to be a huge mistake in the past. They are not the ones actually deporting people but by them giving the servers away for money, they are no better than ICE. Hao then states that Amazon was “merely capitalizing on a trend.” Then proceeds to talk about the time in 2010 when alot of data and resources was moved to the “cloud.”
Amazon’s mission statement reads, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Prior to reading this document I would have agreed with this statement. However, knowing
how Amazon is not as secure as I thought I feel like customers are not there number one focus. So their core values are compromised as they gave up everyone who has ever used Amazon for $600,000. Much like everything else in the world, anything can be bought for the right price.
I had the same reaction after reading this article. I had no knowledge of their involvement with the government, and with ICE nonetheless, prior to reading this article. You make a good point that because of their dealings with the government, they have essentially compromised their core values. Simply serving as a shopping platform would have sufficed in fulfilling their mission statement.
I think the point you make about how the core values of Amazon were compromised for a certain amount of money is interesting. It seems like Amazon caring for their customers has its limits, and being offered a certain amount of money justifies compromising their core values, no matter what their customers think.
According to the article, Amazon is playing a major role by providing the backbone infrastructure for many of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and Department of Homeland security key programs. One important program being used by the ICE is the Investigative Case Management system (ICM), which uses a vast amount of information from public and private databases to track down immigrants. ICM is able to pull all the information found to create a detailed profile, which can include a person’s immigration history, family relationships, personal connections, addresses, phone records, biometric traits, and other information. More specifically, Palantir, a data mining company that designed the (ICM), is paying Amazon Web Service‘s (AWS) $600,00 a month to use its servers. So by ICM being integrated into AWS, they are able to access information for all of Amazon’s customers. This is a lot considering the fact that Amazon is currently one of the biggest companies today with lots of customers using its services everyday. Besides just powering the ICM system, AWS also hosts a couple other of DHS’s other key immigration-related databases and operations. These includes biometric data for 230 million individuals, fingerprints, face records, and iris scans.
This practice is not entirely in conflict with Amazon’s core values described in its mission statement, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Even though Amazon is selling its customers information away to the government, people are still able to go to their website and possibly “find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” However it’s practice is in conflict with the Amazon goal of being a “customer-centric company.” A customer-centric company should put it’s customers first and assist them in what they want, not to sell their customers information. As seen, Amazon’s practice is only partially in conflict with its core values.
I was pretty conflicted with their mission statement as well. I thought they are doing something that violates our privacy but at the same time their main website where hundreds of millions of people buy their products off of is literally still their main platform. They are still the customer central company that they been always but behind the scenes, consumers do not see that their most loved online shopping platform is conducting unethical actions to their customers.
Amazon is one of the most powerful and influential companies in the world. They have become the most popular online shopping service causing numerous businesses and industries to run out of business. They have access to immense amounts of data regarding its shoppers. Amazon definitely has lots of power and influence over the public. Amazon has stuck its fingers in government affairs in 2017. ICE gathered mass amounts of data from federal and private law enforcement entities to create detailed profiles used to track immigrants. All of that data began to move onto Amazon Web Services. Amazon gets paid $600,000 a month for the use of their servers. This information is used for the intent of deporting undocumented people in the US. Amazon is undermining peoples natural right to privacy. Now Amazon will have even more power and influence in the US, by having close relations with its consumers and the government. A corporation the size of Amazon should not be allowed to store this sensitive information about people in the first place.
Amazons core values are absolutely being violated. Amazon promises consumer safety with their private info. Amazon is clearly going against this by storing tons of information about undocumented people in hoped of deporting them. Amazons real core value is all about one thing, money. To Amazon, dollar bills are definitely worth more than keeping people’s data secure. Amazon is being highly hypocritical of protecting its consumers data while storing data of undocumented people. Amazon has corrupted its own core values. Profit is the main goal.
Jonathan is entirely correct. Amazon is a business and prioritizes profits above everything else. The only time Amazon would care about ethics if it helps their business model in some way, however Amazon is already prevalent. The company is known to have everything a person needs, and with two day shipping it’s extremely convenient. Amazon is wiping out competitors because it can afford to make products extremely cheap, then once competition is defeated they will raise the prices again. In reality the great deals on Amazon come with a great cost; the ability for the consumer to choose where they get their goods from.
I agree with you on profit being Amazon’s main goal. I feel so too. Amazon is going against its core values of protecting their costumer’s privacy by selling them to the government. They wouldn’t care about how ethically wrong they are unless it affects their business. I also really liked the choice of words you used such as “corrupted” and “hypocritical.” These words are a good example to describe businesses which Amazon is.
While you have a compelling argument, I disagree that Amazon has violated their core values. Amazon is only providing a service to ICE, so ICE is basically a customer just like me and you to Amazon.
Amazon provides US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) a software platform for which to conduct their investigations. Amazon creates many software platforms, such as those used in fingerprint scanning and facial recognition. These technologies are extremely useful and wanted by federal companies such as ICE in order to aid in locating and deporting illegal immigrants. Amazon sells these platforms, with a disregard to how they may be harmful to society today as innocents might be targeted, and use society fighting against misuse as an excuse for doing so. Amazon is also the host for many immigration operations. ICE is one of the few that use Amazon to go through with their system of finding immigrants. Amazon stores a large sum of biometric data, from fingerprints to iris scans, for a large amount of people. By giving federal companies the ability to use these functions, they are invading the privacy of many people and allowing for unethical ways to locate immigrants and Amazon’s CEO simply turns a blind eye.
As for Amazon’s mission statement, it is meant to be a place where consumers are able to freely find any item they would like to purchase. It is meant for anyone, illegal immigrant or not. By allowing federal companies to use their software and data, they are providing a risk for many consumers as their livelihood is at stake if they use the site. It makes for a contradicting point, where Amazon is meant to revolve around the customer, yet it is being used to target those very customers. In a way, Amazon is going against its mission statement simply to make money through the federal government instead of normal consumers. Amazon is questioning its ethics to make a quick buck, so to speak.
I agree with the fact that Amazon is doing this simply to make more money. With all their success as a marketplace, why would they risk the trust of their customers with ties to the government through surveillance systems? It is definitely contradictory to their mission statement and their promise to be “customer-centric”.
yes, I agree with your statement Amazons lack of care for their customers as regular people with families, is going over their head just to make more money. Is uneasy because they don’t need to extra money when they have so many customers.
Amazon plays a huge role in providing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with the necessary software to track down and deport immigrants. They have lots of resources such as the Palantir companies who help them secure contracts with the government. They also have too much power because Amazon has the highest federal authorization for cloud services which are used to support the Investigative Case Management system, and that plays a huge role for Ice knowing direct information, and the whereabouts of immigrants. In the article Karen Hao states, “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown” this makes them responsible for the arrest of many immigrants. They are the ones provided the data to ICE in order to benefit in the long run with the money they will get from the government.
Amazon’s mission statement states, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Their practices support their mission statement because they say that they are the most “customer centric” which could mean that they’re heavily involved in the customers information and privacy. It can also mean that being customer-centric is being focused on the customers needs like not wanting their information leaked to the government which could contradict the first point. It is a very vague statement and can go both ways depending on how you interpret it.
Amazon runs by a certain set of values to be on the path of their mission, to become a source where customers and search and buy anything they would want. However, this statement would become ironic in years to come. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to their subscribers. The technology allows them to have at their disposal a virtual cluster of computers, available all the time, through the Internet. ICE, a section of the department of homeland security of the USA has used AWS to help in the assistance of deporting immigrants from the United States. The specific database helping ICE in their deportation acts is the Investigative Case Management system (ICM). This database contains as much as biometric data for 230 million individuals, including fingerprints, face records, and iris scans.
The DHS plans to buy more information from facial recognition databases sourced from more Amazon subsidiaries. However, Amazon’s mission becomes too powerful as their products would release too much information that could harm their civil rights of privacy. Additionally, I think that at a certain point Amazon will become an online service that majority of all immigrants would fear to use in America. Customer centric is a way of doing business with your customer in a way that provides a positive customer experience before and after the sale to drive repeat business, customer loyalty and profits. But if your customer is happy ion the beginning and then you receive negative feedback because you just found to put that Amazon can sell our information to the government; Amazon is clearly not customer eccentric, thus failing their mission statement.
According to the article ICE uses Amazon as their source of storing data about all of the immigrants. So Palantir was the company that had designed the program for the ICE to catch the immigrants and to send them back and Amazon was involved in the infrastructure of the program. According to the Article ICE arrests have increased by 42%. Since Amazon is working with the government it helps them finding new relations and also make a lot of money. Amazon provides cloud services that later be transferred to the the government where the profiles of the immigrants are created. So ICM pulls the data from government such as fingerprints, addresses, phones and a lot of other things and transfer all of that to Amazon’s database. There were other companies that were involved but Amazon had the highest data base percentage regarding all of the immigrants. Amazon was able to obtain 95% of federal information.
Amazon’s CEO has stated that “One of the jobs of senior leadership is to make the right decision, even when it’s unpopular.” Amazon’s CEO does not see what are doing as a bad thing and Amazon will continue its services with the government. A lot of companies have withdrawn from working with the government because they think it is not ethical meanwhile Amazon is still working with them. All of that information could be really powerful to use for the government and could influence a lot immigrants. In addition Amazon is trying to get more power and money.
Maryan, I think it’s a very interesting point that you used in which the CEO states that amazon must make the best decision for them. It is definitely cause for controversy when they say a statement like that.
Maniul makes a great point regarding the undocumented immigrants in the United States would begin to fear using Amazon services. However, as Amazon is a company their main goal is to please investors, and investors care about money. If Amazon were to get the $10 billion contract with the Department of Defense that is a guaranteed income, and the company would make much more with that contract then with any individual consumer. To add on, if Amazon is significant to the government this gives the company more power regarding legislation. This means they’ll push for legislation which benefits profit, not everyday civilians.
I think the way that you analyze “consumer-centric” is interesting, because it can be interpreted in many ways. Amazon of course wants its customers to be happy with their experience buying products and also overall happy with the company. I agree with you about how receiving negative feedback based on lack of privacy of data is clearly not consumer-centric.
Amazon has a mission statement “to be most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Amazon appears to be acting against their company motto as they have recently been creating software for the American Government, particularly the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). The ICE agency is known to encroach on people’s civil liberties, especially people deemed to be an immigrant. Amazon has not directly aided in ICE’s software, however Palantir, the company which makes the software uses Amazon data to test immigrants against. Amazon data being given out like this clearly and explicitly goes against their mission statement, as they promise to be a customer-centric company. If their data can just be easily bought Amazon does not care about customer privacy. Amazon also is developing a lot of security technology, and Amazon workers are even concerned about the company’s involvement with the American Government. Amazon workers are concerned with the government over stepping its power by targeting innocent people. In the past and even the present the United States Government has had a systematic issue with race. People who are a darker skin tone have been purposely targeted, and this software can aide ICE in targeting people. In today’s political climate, people who are of a Hispanic Heritage are being targeted because of Trump’s rhetoric, and with this tech ICE can act. Recently, the US and Mexico border has been tense. Children and parents were being separated, and people who show themselves to American Border Patrol also get treated like criminals. Amazon’s support of ICE directly goes against their mission statement.
I 100% agree with your statement. Amazon very much views its support of ICE as a power move as opposed to a lack of concern for the families facing separation and deportation. I found your analysis on the lack of privacy and racism that goes along with this whole issue extremely interesting. You focused on relevant issues such as the US and Mexican border wall situation and gave excellent arguments against Amazon’s mission statement.
Amazon plays an active role in giving the government software as well
as secure servers for ICE. This greatly aids the immigration force that has been increasingly active since Trump’s inauguration. In other words, the company has multiple contracts with the government to build a steady relationship with governmental deportation
groups. This develops a greatly controversial argument, why is amazon doing this? The article states that there are many ideas for this, with various blatant answers. The immediate answer that sticks out is profit. Amazon owns a high number of government shares
for federal authorizations, which means that it could profit from the government’s money. This would make it beneficial for the company to allow governmental companies to use their software. However, the argument continues as to why they would do this, because
there are morals at stake with doing business with ICE. As the article states, an amazon employee went out to say that selling certain things to law enforcement would have put innocent people in harm’s way, yet it is still known that there was a plan to sell
that same product to ICE. People may argue that this does not align with their mission statement to build a customer-centric place to discover whatever they might want to buy online. As it turns out, amazon’s services may have become too widely ranged to the public
eye.
Yes, Jared I completely agree with the fact that Amazon is doing this for profit. Honestly, who would not want their company to gain profit, but the way they are gaining profit is just wrong. Even though people from outside of this class will not know that Amazon has its hand behind immigrant deportation, it is a great way of telling us student that we should be careful about our purchase on Amazon.
1.) It had an essential role for providing infrastructure for many of ICE and DHS’s key programs. Amazon has close ties with the federal government, helping them secure gov. contracts. The Amazon Web Service hold all the data and algorithms that power ICM. They also hold 62% of the highest level authorizations needed to handle data for law enforcement systems. Amazons web service hosts several of DAS’s major immigration related databases and operations, including core data systems for USCIS.
2.) The Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos remarked that “society’s immune response” would prevent Amazon’s technology from being used in harmful ways. Criticism was received from civil rights activists and Amazon employees, such as one who wrote a letter to the company stating that they stop selling its facial- recognition platform to law enforcement officials. Also the employee stated that its “Ignoring these urgent concerns while deploying powerful technologies to government and law enforcement agencies is dangerous and irresponsible.”.
I agree with your perspective on this document and you posed an argument that I did not think about.You made very good points that opened my eyes more to the subject your responses were very clear and it was a nice flow of information.
According to the article, “Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown”.The company does so by providing information to data mining companies such as Palantir who in turn design systems (ICM) with said information, that play a major role in the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement track down and deportation of immigrants. The article also states that Amazon holds the largest share of federal authorizations, “which verifies that cloud providers have the necessary security requirements to process, store, and transmit government data.”
Amazons core values state “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Ironically, amazon has proven to be somewhere one can go to find absolutely anything from laundry detergent to personal information concerning immigrants in the united states. Though not comical in any way it goes to show just how easy it’d be for the company to defend their actions with such a broad core value statement. I think that the line between business and government has always been unclear. Businesses, especially those that have access to information as sensitive as this should have limits on who they can give access to.if it isn’t criminal, or a threat to a life or the country then It isn’t ethical to hunt down families and people who aren’t at fault of anything but just living.
Amazon has been one of the largest rapidly growing companies due to its vast customer range, but there recent involvement with ICE might eliminate most customers. In the article, Amazon is the invisible backbone behind ICE’s immigration crackdown, by Karen Hao, Amazon has been providing its services to help ICE catch immigrants. Amazon has the leading roles in ensuring the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with software used in tracking down and deporting immigrants. A program that helped ICE is ICM which was used to make profiles that hunt and target immigrates is now making its way to Amazon. ICM is collected on a data mining software called Palantir. Palantir which has a contract with the government is paying Amazon for its use so that there is no direct line from ICE to Amazon. More important, Amazon holds 62% of the highest-level authorizations, usually needed to handle data for law enforcement systems.
Amazon has their facial recognition system called Rekognition which was being advertised to sell to ICE recently. This an issue because many of their customers are unknowing of this.
Amazon’s mission statement says that they want to be ‘earth’s most customer-centric company,’ yet willing to sell out their customer’s privacy to the government. That holds a significant concern because as unethical as it might be the government is technically just another customer. In my opinion, People that believe ICE should be abolished shouldn’t buy any goods from Amazon because of their relationship with ICE, because supporting Amazon means you support ICE. Having contact with ICE will harm Amazon as a company.
According to the article, a data mining company named Palantir designed the Investigative Case Management system (ICM). This system has been used by the ICE to identify and track immigrants and has been primarily used to deport them and separate families. It has been uncovered that Amazon has been providing the backbone infrastructure of key programs that are utilized by ICE and DHS which is a federal home security agency. Not only has Amazon been providing the infrastructure for these companies to use and are basically supporting their actions; Palantir has been paying Amazon around $600,000 per month to use their servers. The article states that Amazon currently holds the largest share of federal authorizations under the FedRAMP program at 22%. The FedRAMP program provides a standardized approach to security that processes, stores, and transmits government data. Amazon also apparently holds 62% of the high-level authorizations which deals with law enforcement systems. Amazon is to put it simply, allowing this to happen because it’s beneficial to business and the organization. Basically, Amazon has been providing cloud services to federal programs and branches.
I can’t say that these events conflict with Amazon’s mission statement which is specifically, “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” They are primarily a business where their goal is profit and the mission statement is pretty much irrelevant towards these events. Them supplying federal security company with infrastructure and servers has nothing to do with how they deal with customers and what they sell. These events didn’t change how the platform operated and at the worst-case scenario it might have given them a bad reputation but the platform operates the same; as a customer I can look up a product and they have options of how I buy it if it’s there.