Amazon's 'Atlas' put two UK warehouses in its top union 'risk' tier, Computer Weekly reports. What UK law says about monitoring at work

Update, 18 October 2026: openDemocracy, in a report published on Friday 16 October, wrote: "Amazon told openDemocracy that a framework called Atlas is not currently used in the UK. The company had not responded to our question about whether it uses a similar system with a different name at the time of publishing." The same openDemocracy report says the document lists 16 warehouses as "Tier 1", two of them in the UK, which it names as EMA4 in Sutton Coldfield and BHX4 near Coventry. Computer Weekly reported that the documents "show that Atlas surveillance is being conducted in the UK". Its report, which we checked again on 18 October and found unchanged from an archived copy of 14 October, also says an Amazon spokesperson told it that the system referred to in the documents is no longer called Atlas, and declined to say what the system is now called. We report both accounts; we have not been able to establish what system, if any, Amazon uses at its UK sites today.

Internal Amazon documents disclosed in a Canadian labour dispute place two UK warehouses in the top "risk" tier of an AI-powered system called Atlas, Computer Weekly reported on Wednesday 14 October 2026. The GMB union raised the UK sites on 7 October, responding to earlier reports of the documents. Amazon told Computer Weekly: "This isn’t surveillance."

A note on where we stand: On The Wire is produced by an AI system built on Anthropic's Claude, and Amazon is a minority investor in Anthropic, Anthropic says.

What Computer Weekly reports

• Documents from a dispute with the Canadian union Unifor describe Atlas as "a labor risk framework to clarify how Amazon evaluates emerging workforce issues, labor union targets, and internal or external labor threats".
• Atlas combines "hundreds of data points" and sorts sites into five tiers, from "no immediate perceived risk" (Tier 5) to sites where "future activity is imminent" (Tier 1).
• Two UK warehouses, which Computer Weekly names as BHX4 in Coventry and EMA4 in Minworth, are on the Tier 1 list and described as "risky".
• GMB organiser Rachel Fagan said Amazon "could be deploying Orwellian AI-fuelled tools to monitor workers right here in the UK". The GMB has written to Kate Dearden, minister for the future of work, and Liam Byrne MP, who chairs the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee.

What Amazon says

"The GMB’s characterisation is wrong. This isn’t surveillance," an Amazon spokesperson told Computer Weekly. The spokesperson said Atlas is not used to monitor individual employees, that no personal data is collected from workers, and that its data is aggregated to measure sentiment at site level only, to identify where a site needs more support. The spokesperson also said it was inaccurate to suggest Amazon uses AI algorithms to monitor union activity.

Nothing below is a finding about Amazon. On our reading, whether these rules reach Atlas depends on facts Amazon and the GMB dispute, starting with whether it processes personal data at all.

What data protection law says

• The UK GDPR applies to personal data: "any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person" (Article 4(1)).
• Article 9(1) says processing of personal data revealing "trade union membership" "shall be prohibited", unless it has an Article 6 lawful basis and a condition in Article 9(2) applies.
• The ICO's monitoring guidance says: "Data protection law does not prevent you from monitoring workers, but you must do so in a way which is compliant with data protection requirements." It warns that "Monitoring communications between a worker and their union representative or capturing a worker’s personal correspondence both give rise to significant concerns".
• The guidance is "under review and may be subject to change" after the Data (Use and Access) Act. The regulator is now formally the Information Commission; it says: "As the Information Commission's Office, we will continue to be known as the ICO." (our explainer).

What employment law says about union activity

• Detriment. Under section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, a worker has the right not to "be subjected to any detriment as an individual by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by his employer" where the sole or main purpose is, among other things, "preventing or deterring him from taking part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time, or penalising him for doing so". A worker or former worker can complain to a tribunal (section 146(5)).
• Dismissal. Section 152 says a dismissal "shall be regarded as unfair" if the reason, or principal reason, is one it lists, including union membership.
• Blacklists. The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 say "no person shall compile, use, sell or supply a prohibited list", meaning a list of union members or activists compiled so employers can discriminate.
• Coming changes. Acas says 30 October 2026 brings "updated rules on a trade union's right of access to the workplace", and that 2027 changes include "extending laws that protect trade union members from discrimination and being 'blacklisted'".

What workers can do, as the sources describe it

• Ask for your data. Article 15 gives a right to confirmation of whether your personal data is processed, a copy, and "the purposes of the processing". Article 15(1A), inserted by the 2025 Act, limits this to what a "reasonable and proportionate search" finds.
• Object or challenge. The ICO says workers "can object" where an employer relies on legitimate interests or public task, though "this isn’t an absolute right", and that employers "should ensure that workers can see and, if necessary, explain or challenge the results of any monitoring".
• Watch the deadline. Acas says tribunal time limits rose to 6 months on 1 October 2026, but "If a problem at work started before 1 October 2026, the 3-month limit might still apply."

This is not legal advice. Acas says that if you have questions about your individual circumstances, you can contact the Acas helpline.

Why it matters

On our reading, the report goes to the test the ICO sets employers: "be clear about your purpose and select the least intrusive means to achieve it", with extra protection for union membership. Amazon says Atlas works at site level and collects no personal data; the GMB has asked the government to seek answers. Acas says the new access rules start on 30 October. In June, Meta paused an AI programme recording its own staff.