Walmart facial recognition and tracking too creepy?

[John Wick]

I've finally had enough, no more physical shopping at Walmart for me. All that data collection and tracking has gone way too far.

I'm surprised at myself for tolerating it this long. I can shop at the local Fry's Food which is more pleasant enviroment. Groceries will cost about 10% more, but their stock is much more consistent anyway. Fry's has cameras on the self checkout, but that is an acceptable security measure to help prevent theft.

For non grocery items I can order online from Walmart and let them collect my data that way, which isn't nearly as creepy as seeing the face recognition monitors track you in real time

 

[John Brunner]

I know Walmart uses cameras at the self-checkout, but I've not heard of general facial recognition being used in the store. In my rural area, I kind of have no options.

 

[Hedi Mitchell]

We always have way too much grocery at Walmart,for self check out.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

I wasn't aware of any facial recognition at Walmart but I really couldn't care less. I don't steal stuff or write bad checks; I just buy what I came for (and a bunch of other junk usually). I can't imagine why they would care about tracking me but who cares. As for "data collection," if they want to know what brand of deodorant I buy that's OK too.

 

[John Brunner]

The only thing that freaked me out at Walmart was that I used one credit card online and a different one in the store because of the higher rebates it got me. I stopped using that second card and began using the online card in the store as well. When I went to my Online Account to look at my Recent Purchases, there was all the stuff I bought online PLUS the stuff I bought in the store using that card. Walmart automatically merged all the in-store purchases made with that credit card into my Online Account.

There is a setting to omit the in-store purchases from the Recent Purchases list...but it's imperfect and doesn't stay set and the method changes. Now it's difficult to browse things I bought online so I can reorder them (although there is a Search function), because I gotta sift through all the groceries and tons of daily stuff that I've bought over the past few years. You can imagine how much crap is in there.

Regarding Walmart and facial recognition...the internet says "Walmart has used facial recognition technology in the past to identify suspected shoplifters, but it discontinued this practice after a trial period."

Regarding facial recognition elsewhere: Back in 2024, the ACLU surveyed 20 of America's largest retailers: Do you use facial recognition on customers? Only three gave straight answers.

• Lowe's: Yes. The company admitted it uses facial recognition to identify suspected shoplifters. They claim they don't keep data on people who don't match their database. (I wonder how they actually build the Shoplifter database in the first place.)
• Ahold Delhaize (Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant, Hannaford): No. Explicitly confirmed they don't use the technology.
• Everyone else: Refused to answer. Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Home Depot, CVS, Walgreens, Target, Best Buy, McDonald's, Macy's—all declined to respond or cited "proprietary" and "competitive" reasons for staying silent. Home Depot told the ACLU they couldn't answer for "competitive reasons." That's odd, because Home Depot previously told Fortune magazine it doesn't use the technology. Changed their story, or changed their tech stack?

 

[Tony Nathanson]

I think it really doesn't matter where we shop. We're on video as soon as we leave our homes; while we're driving, walking & in every store we walk into. We're also tracked when we're online or use our phones.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I think it really doesn't matter where we shop. We're on video as soon as we leave our homes; while we're driving, walking & in every store we walk into. We're also tracked when we're online or use our phones.

I think that this is probably correct. But , like @Beth Gallagher said, I don’t really care. I am not committing any crimes or going anyplace that I should not be, so I just don’t worry if they have cameras or not.
I shop at Walmart and I have Walmart+ Assist, so most of the time I order online, which means they have the complete list of what I buy anyway. Unless we need to actually go to the store to get something, it is much simpler to just add things to my order as I need them and then send it in for delivery when it reaches the $35 necessary for free delivery.

It is interesting though. One of the Walmart Review items I got recently was a pool robot vacuum for Bobby to use keeping the swimming pool clean.
Soon after that, one of the places where I do surveys asked me if we had a robot pool vacuum, and then asked a lot of related questions about using it.
I don’t remember ever being asked that question on a survey before; but since we didn’t have one before, I might have just checked no and forgot about it.

 

[April Vee]

I wasn't aware of any facial recognition at Walmart but I really couldn't care less. I don't steal stuff or write bad checks;

Yea I dont either but its still good to be aware of if we are being tracked,etc...

If I went into a store and my NAME came up on thier camera,I dont know if I would goto that store anymore.. (Privacy concerns)

 

[John Wick]

Everybody has their own opinion regarding privacy. But I find it unsettling that most people accept tracking, data collection and over the top surveillance, justifying it by saying "they have nothing to hide"?

Several decades ago before the cell phone and personal device revolution, I don't think anybody would have been OK with having a bug/tracking transmitter planted on them, a phone tap, or a camera taking a picture of their every movement.

When and why did people decide giving up privacy was OK?

 

[John Brunner]

Everybody has their own opinion regarding privacy. But I find it unsettling that most people accept tracking, data collection and over the top surveillance, justifying it by saying "they have nothing to hide"?

Several decades ago before the cell phone and personal device revolution, I don't think anybody would have been OK with having a bug/tracking transmitter planted on them, a phone tap, or a camera taking a picture of their every movement.

When and why did people decide giving up privacy was OK?

Generations who are born into it consider all of that to be "normal." The issue right now is that many local/state governments are targeting people with "nothing to hide" and favoring the criminals for a lot of reasons, all leading back to "power." I commented elsewhere that a lot of the surveillance stuff have been removed once it showed who is really engaging in criminal activity...it is the Left's current "favored class." So now the Flock license plate cameras and police body cams have been banned in many places. This is a global issue, both here and in Europe. The UK has already stated that the law cannot (and will not) be equally applied to all races. link

Regarding the specific issue of surveillance in stores as a subset of all of this...I don't believe that the stores who have facial recognition systems are doing it to prevent/prosecute shoplifting. I was under the impression that lawsuits and Political Correctness have business resigned to the fact that theft is now just a cost of doing business, and they neither the merchants nor the government will prosecute it due to "disproportionate impact." It makes one wonder exactly why they are collecting that data and what is being done with it.

 

[Marie Miller]

Privacy left the house a long time ago. I am not a shopper but a buyer so in and out. They want to track what I buy and when that is fine with me. Just look at credit card invoices. They are coded nicely almost like your medical billing.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

Everybody has their own opinion regarding privacy. But I find it unsettling that most people accept tracking, data collection and over the top surveillance, justifying it by saying "they have nothing to hide"?

Several decades ago before the cell phone and personal device revolution, I don't think anybody would have been OK with having a bug/tracking transmitter planted on them, a phone tap, or a camera taking a picture of their every movement.

When and why did people decide giving up privacy was OK?

Well, for starters anytime you go out into public, you give up all expectation of privacy. Department stores have been using camera security for decades. If someone was watching me in my home that would be a different matter entirely.

Of course, in a way the internet is "watching" me in my home, but I'm still choosing to use it.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

The only thing that freaked me out at Walmart was that I used one credit card online and a different one in the store because of the higher rebates it got me. I stopped using that second card and began using the online card in the store as well. When I went to my Online Account to look at my Recent Purchases, there was all the stuff I bought online PLUS the stuff I bought in the store using that card. Walmart automatically merged all the in-store purchases made with that credit card into my Online Account.

That is strange but has never happened to me. I always use the same (rewards) credit card online and in-store, but my in-store purchases have never displayed on my online account. I haven't ever changed any of the account settings that I recall.

HEB grocery store does keep track of what I buy, and when I'm placing a pick-up grocery order the website will prompt me for frequently purchased items like milk, potatoes, onions or whatever. It's actually pretty handy because I don't have to search individually for the stuff I always buy.

 

[John Brunner]

That is strange but has never happened to me. I always use the same (rewards) credit card online and in-store, but my in-store purchases have never displayed on my online account. I haven't ever changed any of the account settings that I recall.

HEB grocery store does keep track of what I buy, and when I'm placing a pick-up grocery order the website will prompt me for frequently purchased items like milk, potatoes, onions or whatever. It's actually pretty handy because I don't have to search individually for the stuff I always buy.

It started right after I began using the same credit card everywhere. I found the setting to filter out In Store purchases and it was fine for a while...then they started to bleed back in. I had to do a Google search to figure out where that setting got moved to, and it filtered out maybe 80% of the in store stuff. It really sucks.

That In Store button toggles between In Store Only and All Purchases. I have the Include In Store Purchases option turned off.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Everybody has their own opinion regarding privacy. But I find it unsettling that most people accept tracking, data collection and over the top surveillance, justifying it by saying "they have nothing to hide"?

Several decades ago before the cell phone and personal device revolution, I don't think anybody would have been OK with having a bug/tracking transmitter planted on them, a phone tap, or a camera taking a picture of their every movement.

When and why did people decide giving up privacy was OK?

I don’t think that any of us want to give up our privacy, but the encroachment has happened slowly over the years, and we have just gotten used to it, like the frog in the hot water story.
We would all say that we do not WANT to be tracked and photographed; but at this point, it is so advanced that there is not much that can be done to stop all of the tracking, at least not without making drastic changes to how we live.

A person would have to go completely off-grid and grow all their own food, not own a vehicle or need to see a doctor , and also find or make any tools and clothing they needed.
You would not be able to go online, even at someplace like a library, because everywhere has cameras now. Just walking down a street in town, you are likely to be on a camera at some point.

Even the people who are actively trying not to be tracked are being tracked in one way or another. So, I just choose to enjoy my life, for whatever time is left, and not worry about the cameras everywhere.

 

[Hoot Crawford]

{shrug} there has always been "facial recognition" and "tracking". Thinking back to my high school days, most of the routine grocery items were purchased at "Bill's Grocery" (which was about 2,000 sqft) in the little Appalachian village we lived close to. When you walked in the door, Bill (or his wife) knew who you were, what you normally bought, whether or not your account was current or past due (he carried accounts for most folks, such as my mother) and if you had a history of shop lifting (which was rare). I would stop after school and get a quart of milk to drink on the way home, he would add it to my mother's account book. Maybe once a month or so we would go into the nearby big city (about 3000 people) to the A&P or Kroger, but they required cash or check. Technology changes but the need for retailers in particular to try to be aware of who their customers are, and what they are doing in the store has always been needed.

 

[Tony Nathanson]

Everybody has their own opinion regarding privacy. But I find it unsettling that most people accept tracking, data collection and over the top surveillance, justifying it by saying "they have nothing to hide"?

Several decades ago before the cell phone and personal device revolution, I don't think anybody would have been OK with having a bug/tracking transmitter planted on them, a phone tap, or a camera taking a picture of their every movement.

When and why did people decide giving up privacy was OK?

Probably because (on the pro side) it makes it easier & more convenient to shop. Especially comparing prices in 10 stores & buying things we need without leaving our house. And getting better deals too. Often, I will compare prices online, then I will get e-mails saying, "Come back & use this code to get 20% off."

 

[Tony Nathanson]

I don’t think that any of us want to give up our privacy, but the encroachment has happened slowly over the years, and we have just gotten used to it, like the frog in the hot water story.
We would all say that we do not WANT to be tracked and photographed; but at this point, it is so advanced that there is not much that can be done to stop all of the tracking, at least not without making drastic changes to how we live.

A person would have to go completely off-grid and grow all their own food, not own a vehicle or need to see a doctor , and also find or make any tools and clothing they needed.
You would not be able to go online, even at someplace like a library, because everywhere has cameras now. Just walking down a street in town, you are likely to be on a camera at some point.

Even the people who are actively trying not to be tracked are being tracked in one way or another. So, I just choose to enjoy my life, for whatever time is left, and not worry about the cameras everywhere.

Definitely. We would only add more unnecessary stress to our lives if we worried about something we can do nothing about.