Walmart is on the defensive after a bombshell Groundwork Collaborative report that it has patented technology to personalize prices. According to the Oct. 5 report, “The Walmart Watchtower,” several patent applications describe the data Walmart can collect about its users, from songs on your playlist to your credit report.
Dynamic pricing is the practice of changing prices in a 24-hour period depending on conditions like the weather, and it’s something that some policymakers are fighting against. Surveillance pricing, which is similar, uses customer behavior and characteristics to price the same products differently.
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“Combined with the miles-long list of personal data it collects on shoppers, outlined in its most recent privacy notice, these patents show Walmart building detailed consumer profiles — and the infrastructure to deepen them — seemingly so it can price people, not products,” the report states.
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