Amazon's new smart glasses will have 20,000 delivery workers snapping photos at doorsteps — and there's currently no way to opt out

Amazon plans to have 5,000 drivers wearing the glasses this year, and more than 20,000 by the end of 2027.

The images from the glasses, Amazon told Bloomberg, will be sent back to the company to be analyzed by humans and inputted into an unnamed AI system. (Amazon has several in-house AI systems, including Amazon Nova and Amazon Bedrock).

Asked if customers would be able to opt out of being photographed, an Amazon executive told the outlet “We haven’t thought about that.”

Lots of questions

Amazon isn’t planning to directly let customers know about the use of the smart glasses. And drivers don’t always drop packages off on the front step. Sometimes they venture into side- and backyards, giving Amazon a much more thorough picture of people’s private properties than can be accessed via street-based photos, such as Google Maps.

Amazon also declined to say exactly how frequently the glasses would be snapping pictures, but did acknowledge to Bloomberg that every few seconds would be a “good guess.” Nor would it say how long it planned to keep the images taken by the smart glasses on file. The images can be obtained by law enforcement with a warrant, the company confirmed.

Should people be captured in the pictures taken by the smart glasses, the company says, they will be blurred. Vehicle license plates will also be blurred, it added.

While users can’t opt out, the company insists this isn’t being done to pry further into their lives.

“The intent has never been stuff like surveillance,” said Viraj Chatterjee, the Amazon executive in charge of the rollout. “The intent is just twofold: How can we make the experience delightful, and how can we reduce customer defects?”