Walmart Patents Audio Surveillance Technology to Record Customers and Employees

Megalith

Megalith

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New patents allude to Walmart implementing sound sensors in its stores to monitor employee performance: the devices will be sensitive enough to collect audio data ranging from conversations with customers to the beeps of item scanners and the rustling of bags at checkout. Privacy advocates say that the retailer has gone too far.

According to the patent filed Tuesday, the sensors would be "distributed through at least a portion of a shopping facility" and collect data that will create a "performance metric" for Walmart workers. For example, the sensors would pick up on how many items are scanned, how many bags are used, how long shoppers wait in line, and how employees greet customers.
 
You mean they are going to patent planting bugs throughout the store. I am pretty sure bugs have been around since before Walmart?
How employees greet and what the employees talk about. Employees who hate working there, hate the manager, others, etc.
 
It'd be far simpler to have shelves over the doors. As anyone, employee or customer, enters, a small drone would launch off the shelf and drop onto the person. There, it would secure itself, unobtrusively, like a resting cockroach. With GPS sensors, cameras, microphones, wifi, rfid, DNA sniffer, etc., it could identify the individual. As the person walked about it could relay every place the person stopped. What they looked at, handled, hesitated over, put back, took, stole (?), etc. With rfid it could pull the bank cards and check their credit history. Obviously, drug use (sniffers would detect meth, pot, alcohol, etc.) would be relayed to security.

As the person paid for their purchases, they would be checked against what was taken from the shelves. No more shoplifting...

As they leave, the drone would launch up to the shelf over the exit doors and cycle itself into line to drop onto the next person entering.

It's a brave new world...
 
I love these patent articles. The original CBS article, "According to the patent filed Tuesday.."

Nope. Not filed Tuesday. Issued Tuesday. It was filed as a provisional April 21, 2016, converted to non-provisional on April 20, 2017. It was published as an application on October 26, 2017. Its like they don't even read the patent.

This is a big nothing. If you search the USPTO AppFt database for Assignee=Walmart Apollo, you will see they file a lot of stuff not necessarily related to anything they will deploy to a store.
 
Dang, now I'll need to bring out my portable cone-of-silence when I go to Walmart!
 
My daughter used to work at the local Walmart, and the common knowledge is: they already do that. See those black bumps in the ceiling or overhead? Yep. Cameras with audio. I'm pretty sure the patent is relating to new technology that achieves that very thing, but more efficiently. As Hagrid said, it's not about the bugging (because it's been around for a long time) but the devices used.....
 
Meh I only ever go to walmart when I want to rip a fart I can't hold any longer...well it's usually a fart anyway.
 
ChadD said:
I guess that would make it much easier to get rid of employees who say the word Union.
Click to expand...
Walmart doesn't have union problems, they have "plumbing issues" that require closing stores down for a few months while they fix it.
Sadly, those that aren't temporarly transferred to others store have to look for other places to work........
 
Got it. Now must mumble and cover my mouth while communicating -- like Sammy the Bull and the Teflon Don. Worked so well for them. :shifty:
 
meanwhile Walmart's prices go up another 10% while their employees' wages are stagnant because they're wasting their money on R&D over something that'll never fly with privacy advocacy groups.
 
RealBeast said:
Got it. Now must mumble and cover my mouth while communicating -- like Sammy the Bull and the Teflon Don. Worked so well for them. :shifty:
Click to expand...

I'm wearing a field distorter next time I shop there.They're gonna hear nothing but garble.
 
piscian18 said:
Meh I only ever go to walmart when I want to rip a fart I can't hold any longer...well it's usually a fart anyway.
Click to expand...
That's you? No joke, I was there a few weeks ago and ran into someone's cloud. I saw an old lady, a young kid, and a few women. It was bad...reminded myself why I avoid they place.
 
"For example, the sensors would pick up on how many items are scanned"
Umm, that's already done via the register? Why do we need an audio pickup for this?

"how many bags are used"
Why do they care how many bags are used? They are dirt cheap where I work, and we don't keep track of our bags. Besides, bags used depends on what items are sold. Different sizes, different amounts of bags.

"how long shoppers wait in line"
They already have tech installed that does this. It's called a camera. Also Registers can track how long it takes to ring up each person.

"how employees greet customers"
Literally the ONLY thing in that list that an audio pickup would help with. So install them at help desks and at door greeter stations. Throughout the store is a huge invasion of privacy where they can get a crapton of customer metrics, plus random people now monitoring your conversations that make minimum wage or close to.
 
c3k said:
It'd be far simpler to have shelves over the doors. As anyone, employee or customer, enters, a small drone would launch off the shelf and drop onto the person. There, it would secure itself, unobtrusively, like a resting cockroach. With GPS sensors, cameras, microphones, wifi, rfid, DNA sniffer, etc., it could identify the individual. As the person walked about it could relay every place the person stopped. What they looked at, handled, hesitated over, put back, took, stole (?), etc. With rfid it could pull the bank cards and check their credit history. Obviously, drug use (sniffers would detect meth, pot, alcohol, etc.) would be relayed to security.

As the person paid for their purchases, they would be checked against what was taken from the shelves. No more shoplifting...

As they leave, the drone would launch up to the shelf over the exit doors and cycle itself into line to drop onto the next person entering.

It's a brave new world...
Click to expand...

Why don’t they just hand out AR glasses for free to everyone?
 
that front page pic is 100% FAKE!!!!!!!! no walmart ever built has ever had more than 2 or 3 checkouts open at a time, even if there are like 50 poeple waiting , still only 2 or 3 open. seeing how the pic shows at least 9 lanes open i call BS :D
 
I'm surprised wallmart have not made their stores cashier less yet, I'm sure they're looking at such stores with envy. just a few shelf stackers and rfid tags on all to products.
 
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