Amazon reportedly accessed third-party seller data to develop private-label products

Amazon employees have accessed sales data from independent Marketplace sellers to help the company develop competing private-label products, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Past Amazon employees and one current one told the WSJ that rules barring the practice weren’t uniformly enforced. In addition, former Amazon employees said using the sales data from sellers was “a common practice that was discussed openly in meetings they attended,” according to the report.

One former employee told the WSJ they knew they were violating the policies:

“We knew we shouldn’t,” said one former employee who accessed the data and described a pattern of using it to launch and benefit Amazon products. “But at the same time, we are making...

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