Amazon employee spoke about a contract with Russian VisionLabs for a facial recognition system

In early June 2024, it became known that Amazon had entered into an agreement with the Russian company VisionLabs to provide access to its Rekognition facial recognition technology. It is alleged that the sanctions restrictions were violated.

About the partnership of VisionLabs (owned by MTS) with Amazon, according to The Financial Times, said a former employee of the American corporation Charles Forrest (Charles Forrest). He claims that he was unfairly fired in 2023 for accusing Amazon of a number of offenses committed between November 2022 and May 2023.

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Amazon AWS

In particular, Forrest says that Amazon, bypassing the British sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the current geopolitical situation, entered into a deal with VisionLabs "through a shell company based in the Netherlands." In addition, Forrest accuses Amazon of violating a voluntary moratorium on providing facial recognition technology to police structures. The information was released during a hearing at the London Labour Tribunal. Amazon denies the allegations against it, saying "the claims are without merit."

Judging by the available evidence and billing materials, Amazon Web Services (AWS) did not provide Amazon Rekognition services to VisionLabs, the representative of the American corporation emphasized.

Amazon says Forrest was fired for "gross violations" of labor obligations - after refusing to work contracted hours, failing to respond to emails and attending scheduled meetings. Amazon also denied the claim that it provided facial recognition technology to police and added that "a voluntary moratorium is not a legal obligation."^[1]

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