‘Knows more than Santa,’ Walmart slammed by shoppers over little-known ‘tracking’ practice

WALMART has been slammed over the use of a little-known tracking practice involving shoppers and artificial intelligence.

A new study conducted by Incogni revealed America’s largest retailers are using a new tactic to uncover customers’ taste in products.

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“The analysis reveals that customers unknowingly contribute more than they realize when purchasing gifts for loved ones,” Incogni writes in their research, according to The Street.

“All 10 investigated retailers collect and share a significant number of personal data points and union membership status.”

However, Walmart, among others, stands head and shoulder above every other retailer, and not in a good way.

Walmart collects and holds the most data of any of the other big-name retailers, according to the research.

“Walmart took the top spot, followed by Amazon.com and Costco Wholesale. Amazon, Home Depot, and Lowe’s turned out to have the most data-hungry mobile apps,” according to Incogni.

“On average, the top 10 retailers collect customer data from 10 out of 12 categories.

“Walmart stands out by collecting data from all 12 categories, while Amazon, Costco, Kroger, and Lowe’s collect data from 10 categories each.”

Some of the data is used to track future sales, “All 10 companies collect data that includes customers’ identifiers (like their names, online identifiers, and driver’s license numbers).

“Characteristics of protected classifications (like marital status, ancestry, and disabilities), commercial information (like purchase history and property records), and audio/electronic/visual information (like video and/or audio recordings of consumers),” according to the report.

The research results, which may be new to some shoppers, are frowned upon but are disclosed on Walmart’s privacy policy on its website.

The company details what personal information they collect from shoppers and how they use it.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The U.S. Sun.