Amazon expands delivery glasses pilot amid privacy questions

Amazon is expanding a pilot of camera-equipped smart glasses for delivery workers, with plans to deploy 5,000 additional devices in 2026 and have more than 20,000 in the field by the end of 2027. The rollout is drawing privacy questions because the glasses can take images at frequent intervals as drivers walk, while customers reportedly have no way to opt out, inspect images or request their deletion. Amazon says more than 500 delivery associates tested the glasses over 18 months and completed more than 275,000 deliveries during the pilot. The company describes the devices as a way to put navigation and delivery information in drivers’ field of view, help verify addresses and reduce reliance on phones. It says the images are intended to improve deliveries, not to surveil customers or the public. Amazon executive Viraj Chatterjee told Bloomberg that the glasses capture still images while drivers are on foot and described “every few seconds” as a reasonable estimate of the frequency. That rate could produce thousands of images in a shift, though the supplied reporting does not establish a measured total across drivers.