6 ms·

Walmart Just Announced a Brand-New Way to Track Customers, & It All Starts Today

43 points by jrs235 2y ago

WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
10 min ago here: Walmart announces ambitious plan to exploit it's customers for data. 4 Hours Earlier here: Costco, same. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40601934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40601934
kderbyma 2y ago
Well they started installing cameras on a lot of shelfs a couple years back and I am sure it's been for exactly this purpose.
- dialup_sounds 2y ago
  It's not. Walmart Canada uses cameras for stock checking (https://focal.systems/ https://focal.systems/). The kind of shopper behavior data they're selling is from transactions, not like, watching people shop.
  - justinclift 2y ago
    > The kind of shopper behavior data they're selling is from transactions, not like, watching people shop. Yet.
    - dialup_sounds 2y ago
      Watching shoppers in stores is much less valuable than you imagine.
      - justinclift 2y ago
        Based upon... ?
  - LocalH 2y ago
    The article literally mentions they plan on expanding that. > Now, the company will share data about consumer behavior much earlier -- including people who browse but don't actually make a purchase. If it's purely about transactions, then how is it even possible for them to do that? It's not.
    - dialup_sounds 2y ago
      It's possible because Walmart operates one of the most popular e-commerce sites in the US and the largest online grocery delivery platform. The idea that they need to physically watch people shop in stores in order to collect that data is just bizarre to see on HN.
      - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
        > The idea that they need to physically watch people shop in stores in order to collect that data is just bizarre to see on HN. I think it's because Walmart+BrowsingGoods tends tends picture the in-store experience. I keep doing that, even while I'm reading this thread about Walmart Online.
ok_dad 2y ago
Here we were, fighting against the government doing this sort of thing, and we let the big corps start it up instead. I’m not happy to see this sort of thing. What can we seriously do to protect our privacy these days, do we even have privacy anymore?
- reaperman 2y ago
  > do we even have privacy anymore? No. We have neither privacy nor even a right to privacy in the USA. The 4th amendment has never provided a comprehensive right to privacy, and it has been eroded beyond recognition by the Supreme Court. Gen Z are indoctrinated into a world without privacy from a young age - their effects can be searched at any time by school employees and they are videotaped at all times at school. Their friends can look up all their Discord history at https://spy.pet/ https://spy.pet/ Only Gen X / Millenials / other older generations had any privacy in the past.
  - lulzury 2y ago
    These companies would love to have you believe these rights have been eroded enough to not matter. Human rights represent the most profound shift in human consciousness in modern history. These rights can only be eroded if people allow them to be eroded. The 2nd amendment doesn't provide a comprehensive right to carry a fully automatic weapon and yet people fight for their right to carrying a fully automatic weapon. The writers of the Bill of Rights never imagined something like Digital Landscapes when writing the 4th amendment, but they did write about the right of the people to be "secure in their persons" and "against unreasonable searches". It is up to the governed to decide if this encompasses something like Digital Landscapes. IMO the failure to respect the right to privacy is a quick path to empowering authoritarian, repressive, and tyrannical ideologies.
    - reaperman 2y ago
      Uhh…what rights are you talking about that we actually have? We should have them, perhaps. But I don’t think we have what you’re talking about under our current laws and constitution. You’re talking like we need to prevent the loss of these rights, but I can’t find any evidence we have much left to lose. A better framing might be “we need to enact these rights and then continue to protect them against erosion over time”.
joe_guy 2y ago
They mention the old question of "Should commercial activity even be allowed online?" Ironically, not long after, they had a video ad that locked to the viewport as you scrolled. It made the content less than 50% of what you could see. I did not continue to read.
- koolala 2y ago
  digital litter :(
sieabahlpark 2y ago
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43 points by jrs235 2y ago

10 min ago here: Walmart announces ambitious plan to exploit it's customers for data. 4 Hours Earlier here: Costco, same. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40601934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40601934

kderbyma 2y ago

Well they started installing cameras on a lot of shelfs a couple years back and I am sure it's been for exactly this purpose.

dialup_sounds 2y ago
It's not. Walmart Canada uses cameras for stock checking (https://focal.systems/ https://focal.systems/). The kind of shopper behavior data they're selling is from transactions, not like, watching people shop.
- justinclift 2y ago
  > The kind of shopper behavior data they're selling is from transactions, not like, watching people shop. Yet.
  - dialup_sounds 2y ago
    Watching shoppers in stores is much less valuable than you imagine.
    - justinclift 2y ago
      Based upon... ?
- LocalH 2y ago
  The article literally mentions they plan on expanding that. > Now, the company will share data about consumer behavior much earlier -- including people who browse but don't actually make a purchase. If it's purely about transactions, then how is it even possible for them to do that? It's not.
  - dialup_sounds 2y ago
    It's possible because Walmart operates one of the most popular e-commerce sites in the US and the largest online grocery delivery platform. The idea that they need to physically watch people shop in stores in order to collect that data is just bizarre to see on HN.
    - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
      > The idea that they need to physically watch people shop in stores in order to collect that data is just bizarre to see on HN. I think it's because Walmart+BrowsingGoods tends tends picture the in-store experience. I keep doing that, even while I'm reading this thread about Walmart Online.

ok_dad 2y ago

Here we were, fighting against the government doing this sort of thing, and we let the big corps start it up instead. I’m not happy to see this sort of thing. What can we seriously do to protect our privacy these days, do we even have privacy anymore?

reaperman 2y ago
> do we even have privacy anymore? No. We have neither privacy nor even a right to privacy in the USA. The 4th amendment has never provided a comprehensive right to privacy, and it has been eroded beyond recognition by the Supreme Court. Gen Z are indoctrinated into a world without privacy from a young age - their effects can be searched at any time by school employees and they are videotaped at all times at school. Their friends can look up all their Discord history at https://spy.pet/ https://spy.pet/ Only Gen X / Millenials / other older generations had any privacy in the past.
- lulzury 2y ago
  These companies would love to have you believe these rights have been eroded enough to not matter. Human rights represent the most profound shift in human consciousness in modern history. These rights can only be eroded if people allow them to be eroded. The 2nd amendment doesn't provide a comprehensive right to carry a fully automatic weapon and yet people fight for their right to carrying a fully automatic weapon. The writers of the Bill of Rights never imagined something like Digital Landscapes when writing the 4th amendment, but they did write about the right of the people to be "secure in their persons" and "against unreasonable searches". It is up to the governed to decide if this encompasses something like Digital Landscapes. IMO the failure to respect the right to privacy is a quick path to empowering authoritarian, repressive, and tyrannical ideologies.
  - reaperman 2y ago
    Uhh…what rights are you talking about that we actually have? We should have them, perhaps. But I don’t think we have what you’re talking about under our current laws and constitution. You’re talking like we need to prevent the loss of these rights, but I can’t find any evidence we have much left to lose. A better framing might be “we need to enact these rights and then continue to protect them against erosion over time”.

joe_guy 2y ago

They mention the old question of "Should commercial activity even be allowed online?" Ironically, not long after, they had a video ad that locked to the viewport as you scrolled. It made the content less than 50% of what you could see. I did not continue to read.

koolala 2y ago
digital litter :(

sieabahlpark 2y ago

[dead]

deleted 2y ago

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deleted 2y ago

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