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It's not about inconvenience or efficiency. It's the hostile signaling Walmart is communicating to their customers. I go to the Target just down the street, an

It's not about inconvenience or efficiency. It's the hostile signaling Walmart is communicating to their customers. I go to the Target just down the street, and it's the exact opposite experience.

rootusrootus 5y ago
Home Depot does this now, and it's starting to alienate me. They are conveniently located, but in various places in the stores (presumably in the areas where commonly shoplifted products are kept), they have cameras with screens and as you walk by they ding at you so you'll notice they are recording. I don't like getting treated that way, so I've started shopping more often at Lowes, even though it takes a couple minutes longer to get there.
- namelessoracle 5y ago
  Lowes uses facial recognition tech in their stores. The camera is there all the same. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/14/22576236/retail-stores-facial-recognition-civil-rights-organizations-ban https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/14/22576236/retail-stores-fa...
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    That is unfortunate. But I will admit that the confrontational method Home Depot uses is more off-putting to me than just knowing that there are cameras doing facial recognition. I assume HD is also using that technology, or will be soon.
    - namelessoracle 5y ago
      One of the reasons they have the loud ding is to alert an associate working several aisles there is a customer there so they can go assist them. How that works in practice is debatable. Looks like Home Depot made a commitment to not use facial recognition? https://www.zdnet.com/article/backlash-to-retail-use-of-facial-recognition-grows-after-michigan-teen-kicked-out-of-skating-rink-after-false-match/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/backlash-to-retail-use-of-faci... Personally I prefer the "hey we are filming you" notices to the silent approach where they use facial recognition tech that is feeding into a large database. Just like i prefer notices in my websites that they are data harvesting than the silent approach.
      - rootusrootus 5y ago
        > One of the reasons they have the loud ding is to alert an associate working several aisles there is a customer there so they can go assist them. I sincerely hope they don't believe that's what customers are experiencing, though. And I've never had an HD employee zip on over to help me out when I've been browsing electrical parts. I have, however, started being a little immature and occasionally flip off the camera when it dings at me. Such a rebel I am ;-)
sodality2 5y ago
target has far more effective anti-theft, but it's far less intrusive, apparently. https://www.paypath.com/Small-Business/why-target-is-the-worst-store-to-shoplift-from https://www.paypath.com/Small-Business/why-target-is-the-wor...
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  Is facial recognition less intrusive, or more convenient? I’d argue the latter.
  - JohnFen 5y ago
    I agree. Facial recognition is far more intrusive, and far more convenient. The problem I have with face recognition is what to do about it? Some stores are polite enough to make it obvious, so I know not to shop there, but I can't trust that the other stores aren't also doing it and keeping it quiet. This has me stumped.
- Talanes 5y ago
  That's surprising to hear. All of the San Francisco Targets recently started closing at 6pm in response to shoplifting.
obmelvin 5y ago
The Target near me has so many camera domes in the ceiling that I question if they are all even cameras. I don't have a huge point to make, other than it isn't always as easy as going to another store. To be clear, I don't think you are saying that it is.
asdff 5y ago
It depends on the target. Theft was so bad at one that I used to live near, that they installed a police substation specifically for the target within the building.
throwawaytarget 5y ago
Just last month I was in a target and they had a plain cloths security officer following a black teenager around the store (and not being very subtle about it IMO). I went up to the teenager and told him he was being followed. That seems like hostile behavior to me, but I'm sure it varies store-to-store.

It's not about inconvenience or efficiency. It's the hostile signaling Walmart is communicating to their customers. I go to the Target just down the street, and it's the exact opposite experience.

rootusrootus 5y ago

Home Depot does this now, and it's starting to alienate me. They are conveniently located, but in various places in the stores (presumably in the areas where commonly shoplifted products are kept), they have cameras with screens and as you walk by they ding at you so you'll notice they are recording. I don't like getting treated that way, so I've started shopping more often at Lowes, even though it takes a couple minutes longer to get there.

namelessoracle 5y ago
Lowes uses facial recognition tech in their stores. The camera is there all the same. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/14/22576236/retail-stores-facial-recognition-civil-rights-organizations-ban https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/14/22576236/retail-stores-fa...
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  That is unfortunate. But I will admit that the confrontational method Home Depot uses is more off-putting to me than just knowing that there are cameras doing facial recognition. I assume HD is also using that technology, or will be soon.
  - namelessoracle 5y ago
    One of the reasons they have the loud ding is to alert an associate working several aisles there is a customer there so they can go assist them. How that works in practice is debatable. Looks like Home Depot made a commitment to not use facial recognition? https://www.zdnet.com/article/backlash-to-retail-use-of-facial-recognition-grows-after-michigan-teen-kicked-out-of-skating-rink-after-false-match/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/backlash-to-retail-use-of-faci... Personally I prefer the "hey we are filming you" notices to the silent approach where they use facial recognition tech that is feeding into a large database. Just like i prefer notices in my websites that they are data harvesting than the silent approach.
    - rootusrootus 5y ago
      > One of the reasons they have the loud ding is to alert an associate working several aisles there is a customer there so they can go assist them. I sincerely hope they don't believe that's what customers are experiencing, though. And I've never had an HD employee zip on over to help me out when I've been browsing electrical parts. I have, however, started being a little immature and occasionally flip off the camera when it dings at me. Such a rebel I am ;-)

sodality2 5y ago

target has far more effective anti-theft, but it's far less intrusive, apparently. https://www.paypath.com/Small-Business/why-target-is-the-worst-store-to-shoplift-from https://www.paypath.com/Small-Business/why-target-is-the-wor...

mixmastamyk 5y ago
Is facial recognition less intrusive, or more convenient? I’d argue the latter.
- JohnFen 5y ago
  I agree. Facial recognition is far more intrusive, and far more convenient. The problem I have with face recognition is what to do about it? Some stores are polite enough to make it obvious, so I know not to shop there, but I can't trust that the other stores aren't also doing it and keeping it quiet. This has me stumped.
Talanes 5y ago
That's surprising to hear. All of the San Francisco Targets recently started closing at 6pm in response to shoplifting.

obmelvin 5y ago

The Target near me has so many camera domes in the ceiling that I question if they are all even cameras. I don't have a huge point to make, other than it isn't always as easy as going to another store. To be clear, I don't think you are saying that it is.

asdff 5y ago

It depends on the target. Theft was so bad at one that I used to live near, that they installed a police substation specifically for the target within the building.

throwawaytarget 5y ago

Just last month I was in a target and they had a plain cloths security officer following a black teenager around the store (and not being very subtle about it IMO). I went up to the teenager and told him he was being followed. That seems like hostile behavior to me, but I'm sure it varies store-to-store.