Amazon Recorded Video Of A Seller's Face For Identification Purposes

From BuzzFeed News

An Amazon seller based in Vietnam told BuzzFeed News that he was prompted to take a five-second video of his face using his computer’s webcam in January as he signed up for a seller profile. Amazon seller consultants told BuzzFeed News they believe the company may be testing video to verify seller identities to prevent the creation of multiple seller profiles, a major issue for Amazon and its ongoing battle with fake sellers and counterfeit goods.

Nope. No facial recognition training going on here. Move along.

Reached for comment by BuzzFeed News, Amazon disputed neither the authenticity of the facial verification process it required of the seller, nor the screenshot.The company, however, refused to explain its collection of sellers’ faces.

It just seems crazy to me that we don't have a general online privacy protection law in this country. Congress passed COPPA in 1998, but it hasn't done much of anything since. For now, the EU's GDPR is the de facto law of our land...and that doesn't really sit well with me.