Walmart files for patent on biometric shopping cart

[TheFugitive]

Walmart has filed for a patent on a shopping cart that incorporates biometric sensors into the handle.

https://www.techspot.com/news/76884-walmart-patents-biometric-shopping-cart-track-vitals.html

The handle will be able to track a shopper's vital signs: heart beat, respiration, blood oxygen, rate of walking speed, etc.  Walmart is claiming that this is to help dispatch emergency help should a shopper have a health emergency.

I'm not buying it.  I think this is to collect data on how people are physically reacting to the merchandise they are seeing to compile that for marketing purposes.  Just the filing of this patent is raising a slew of privacy issues, including whether or not the medical data that would be collected by Walmart is protected under HIPAA.

In the meantime I expect to see lots and lots of Walmart shoppers who are wearing gloves.

[NJxxJon]

Your cell phone is tracking you......lol


This tech would be cool....I would steal one of these lol

[TheFugitive]

Aside from the privacy/HIPAA concerns I think that is the other reason why
these are likely never deployed.  Shopping carts are an oft-stolen item, and
making them five times more expensive surely won't help matters any.