Walmart tool designed to ‘listen’
Retailer says device able to monitor sounds at registers
Walmart has developed a new device that would listen in on employees at the checkout counter to monitor their performance.
The invention, called Listening to the Frontend, received a patent July 10. However, a Walmart spokesman said that doesn’t necessarily mean the device will ever be used in stores.
“This patent is a concept that would help us gather metrics and improve the checkout process by listening to sounds produced by the bags, carts and cash registers and not intended for any other use,” the company said in a statement. “We file patents frequently, but that doesn’t mean the patents will actually be implemented. We’re always thinking about new concepts and ways that will help us further enhance how we serve customers.”
According to the patent drawings and description, the device consists of sound sensors and a control circuit that receives audio data from the sensors. It then correlates the data with the employee being recorded to “determine a performance metric for the employee.”
Walmart wrote in the patent that “one way to track performance metrics for employees is the use of a system including sound sensors near point of sale (‘POS’) terminals.” However, illustrations show the listening device placed at the checkout counter, where it could pick up transactions between employees and customers.
The device, if implemented, could run afoul of privacy laws, which vary by state.
In Arkansas, for example, recording an in-person conversation is legal as long as at least one party gives consent, which could be the person doing the recording. In Florida and California, all parties in a confidential conversation must give consent for its recording to be legal, but both states exempt conversations in public places where there is no expectation of privacy.
It is unclear whether employees and customers would be informed that their conversations were being recorded.
Walmart is not alone in
developing technology to monitor workers. Amazon received a patent last year for a wristband that could track the hand movements of
warehouse workers as they performed assigned tasks. And the FreshTeam messaging app that debuted in 2016 lets employees track workers’ locations by using GPS technology.
Listening to the Frontend was assigned Patent No. US 10,020,004 B2. Its inventors are Nicholaus A. Jones of Fayetteville, Aaron J. Vasgaard and Robert J. Taylor of Rogers, and Matthew A. Jones of Bentonville. WalMart Stores Inc. filed the patent application on April 20, 2017.