Walmart awarded patent for listening system
A new patent is raising privacy concerns from consumers and workers.
Walmart has been granted approval for a listening system to measure employees performance at checkout.
The problem?
The cart-based technology can also be used to monitor guests conversations.
The system would capture everything from beeps, produced by a scanner, to the rustling of bags, to interactions between workers and shoppers.
According to the patent paperwork, Walmart would use the audio from guests to determine the lengths of checkout lines, as well as if employees are greeting people.
Though Walmart has not said when or if the system will ever be implemented in stores, critics are already calling the patent troubling, saying it's akin to eavesdropping.
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