06-12-2018, 08:21 AM
(06-11-2018, 04:46 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: The credit card wouldn't be applicable as we didn't buy anything (they didn't have it in stock).
But the second option is a possibility. My phone has a google account as I use Google maps (I don't have Gmail or Facebook on my phone). But I was under the impression that when I turned down the multiple requests from Google Maps to allow them to reveal my tracking information, that they would not do that.
As for the camera, it was in the back of the store in the main aisle, about 6' off the ground and had a video monitor to show what it was recording. There was also a sign that said "You are being recorded" (which, of course, you could really read until after you were already being recorded).
I am 100% sure it's not facial recognition, especially one with cross platform lookup functionality scraping old Facebook accounts and doing projected age modeling with a success rate good enough to be able to email you. It could be an app and possibly not even the google maps but other apps that are tracking your location. There are apps that will forward on geo locations only when you are at certain locations.
The other big one is if you leave WiFi or bluetooth on your phone on, even if you aren't connected to a network or device, your phone can be tracked based on the WiFi routers seeing you, or blue tooth beacons picking up your device. While you may say "Walmart doesn't have WiFi that I can see on my phone" they actually do they just don't broadcast the SSID so while you can't see their WiFi they can see your phone. Also many retailers are installing bluetooth beacons that basically "count" customers and their phones that come in and can often scrape data from them as far as who you are. This has become a common method and it's a legal gray area in a sense because you "opt in" to have your Wifi/Blue Tooth on and in the public domain.
