Q: Amazon began using Uber-type delivery personnel this holiday season. Because I live in an isolated area and have many Amazon deliveries, this makes me very nervous. Are these individuals screened and, if so, how and by whom?
—Marcia McIntyre, Walnut Grove
A: Amazon Flex drivers are "thoroughly vetted" through a series of background checks that include multistate criminal checks and motor vehicle record reviews.
These include Social Security traces, county and federal court searches, a national criminal search, sex offender registry search, motor vehicle reports and a “thorough and an expansive review” of current data and lists from “top U.S. and global organizations,” including the FBI and U.S. State Department, among other groups, Scott Stanzel, an Amazon spokesman, told Q&A on the News in an email.
Amazon Flex, a program that uses individual drivers to deliver packages instead of UPS or the U.S. Postal Service, has been implemented in 14 cities, including Atlanta.
Q: What is WSB-TV news reporter Kerry Kavanaugh doing? I haven’t seen her in a while.
—Len Hypolite, Grayson
A: Kavanaugh left WSB-TV in December 2014 to join WFXT-TV Fox 25 in Boston, where she is an investigative reporter.
She had been with WSB since September 2010.
Kavanaugh is a native of Medford, Mass., and graduated from Boston College, according to her station bio.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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