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I went to one in SoCal and was terrified. the entrance they asked me you to scan my prime membership, and told me that I can then fill out my basket - and ba

I went to one in SoCal and was terrified. the entrance they asked me you to scan my prime membership, and told me that I can then fill out my basket - and basically walk out with my stuff without checkout - just moving it into a bag on the way out. I asked how they know what’s in my basket to charge me for it and they said that there are cameras watching me the whole time and noting what I take off the shelf and put in it. I was beyond creeped out by the whole experience. Never went to that store again. Knowing that they not only watch what I’m buying but also recording and analyzing my gate, motion, gaze, microecpressions etc freaked me out. Amazon’s vision to cattle-ize humanity for profit is not attractive to me.

code_duck 4y ago
One thing to note is that other retailers do that too - track people around stores with Bluetooth and I assume other methods, noting where shoppers linger, what they buy and what they hesitate on. But they don't tell us they do this.
- jarjoura 4y ago
  Not that you're wrong, but there's definitely a huge perceptual difference when one method is done visually and another is done anonymously. Amazon Go's system knows who I am, what item I grab off the shelf, put back and then what I ultimately leave with. There's so much personal information they gather from that order and it shows up downstream across their other products. Bluetooth tracking can't attach a face to that and that is a far more appropriate use of tracking. It aids restocking decisions, promotions, etc, that I have no problem participating in. My point is, if I like a particular item, I don't mind the store knowing that and keeping it stocked, and paired with other items I buy together with it. I just don't want the store to know my emotional state, confusion, and speed at which I grabbed an item.
  - code_duck 4y ago
    Sure, that's true, but we don't know that the other stores aren't also using visual tracking and analysis. Also, it's not anonymous since they match shoppers to real world identities with store apps, wifi, shopper loyalty cards and probably payment methods.
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  They go as far as having lights transmit which part of the store you're in with imperceptible flickering: https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/systems/lighting-systems/indoor-positioning https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/systems/lighting-system...

code_duck 4y ago

One thing to note is that other retailers do that too - track people around stores with Bluetooth and I assume other methods, noting where shoppers linger, what they buy and what they hesitate on. But they don't tell us they do this.

jarjoura 4y ago
Not that you're wrong, but there's definitely a huge perceptual difference when one method is done visually and another is done anonymously. Amazon Go's system knows who I am, what item I grab off the shelf, put back and then what I ultimately leave with. There's so much personal information they gather from that order and it shows up downstream across their other products. Bluetooth tracking can't attach a face to that and that is a far more appropriate use of tracking. It aids restocking decisions, promotions, etc, that I have no problem participating in. My point is, if I like a particular item, I don't mind the store knowing that and keeping it stocked, and paired with other items I buy together with it. I just don't want the store to know my emotional state, confusion, and speed at which I grabbed an item.
- code_duck 4y ago
  Sure, that's true, but we don't know that the other stores aren't also using visual tracking and analysis. Also, it's not anonymous since they match shoppers to real world identities with store apps, wifi, shopper loyalty cards and probably payment methods.
BoorishBears 4y ago
They go as far as having lights transmit which part of the store you're in with imperceptible flickering: https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/systems/lighting-systems/indoor-positioning https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/systems/lighting-system...