July 23, 2018

Walmart plans to spy on checkout workers

Popular Resistance - Big-box retailing behemoth Walmart, which employs one of the United States’ largest workforces, has never been known for being a friendly corporation to employees.

... Faced with stiff competition from “everything store” and online retailer Amazon,  the company is being driven to maintain its profit margins while simultaneously keeping close tabs on workers who could possibly organize. Enter its new audio sensor technology, known as “listening to the frontend.”

According to BuzzFeed, a patent has just been awarded to the retailer that will be capable of tracking audio to detect how many bags are being used and the “efficiency” of bagging items; how long lines are; and – most ominously – the content of conversations between customers and employees or between workers themselves.

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