Walmart: Difference between revisions

Walmart uses a technology called ''[[bluetooth beacon]],'' a device often found in physical retail locations used for precise indoor positioning<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 Jan 2024 |title=What You Must Know About Bluetooth Beacons Before Purchasing in 2025 |url=https://mapsted.com/blog/what-you-must-know-about-bluetooth-beacons-before-purchasing |website=Mapsted}}</ref>, particularly for monitoring customers with the Walmart app installed on their smartphones<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Kwet |first=Michael |title=In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref>. The bluetooth device is often hidden on the top of shelving units inside retail stored and then connects with the smartphone device of customers often through retailer apps. Although this may include connecting to other spyware apps on customers' smartphones not owned by the actual retailer<ref name=":2" />. While many advertisers often use cellphone towers and GPS technology to track and advertise to consumers based on their location, bluetooth beacons are significantly more precise, especially indoors where they are used in places like airports and shopping malls to track individuals<ref name=":2" />. This allows companies like Walmart to send precise location data of customers to third-party advertisers, allowing highly specific targeted ads depending on which aisle the customer happens to be standing in<ref name=":2" />.