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Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

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Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#21

Post by bgwalter »

redserk wrote: post #18
bgwalter wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If no one used the self-checkouts there would be 15 cashiers.

There is no evidence anecdotal or otherwise to back this assertion. Many stores near me appeared to cut cashiers before they added self-checkouts. If anything, adding self-checkouts increased the number of available options to get out of the store faster. I'd place my bets on curbside pickup getting pushed more before cashiers get added given how popular it's become as an option.

My anecdotal evidence is that one of the supermarkets I go to had 4-7 active cashiers and no self-checkout. After a complete redesign and renovation they have two active cashiers and self-checkouts. The self-checkout is closed unless there is a supervisor.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#22

Post by ac29 »

bgwalter wrote: post #16
richwater wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slower than the cashier...Often there is a supervisor breathing down your neck Not sure what stores you're going to go but this is nowhere near my experience.

You scan faster than a trained cashier? Do the self-checkouts in the US use RFID? Here in the EU I have to scan, clumsily and slowly.

If the option is waiting in line for a cashier versus going to an open self checkout (this is almost always the case where I shop), then yes, self checkout is faster.

Even aside from the line, the only thing clerks are sometimes faster at in my experience is ringing up fresh produce where codes have to be typed in (these codes are usually on a label on the produce, but if not you have to go through a lookup procedure if you haven't memorized the code).

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#23

Post by RiverCrochet »

bgwalter wrote: post #16
richwater wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slower than the cashier...Often there is a supervisor breathing down your neck Not sure what stores you're going to go but this is nowhere near my experience.

You scan faster than a trained cashier? Do the self-checkouts in the US use RFID? Here in the EU I have to scan, clumsily and slowly.

In the U.S., particularly the Walmarts I've been to, cashiers are usually slower than the self-checkouts now.

Their self-checkouts used to be slow because the registers would verify the weight of items on the scale (the surface where you bag it) before letting you put it in the cart. If it didn't like the weight it would force you to put it back in the bag. I don't think they do this anymore. Asset protection can view a camera pointed at the scanner and bags if they think you're stealing.

Furthermore, it's hard for Walmart to retain people, so cashiers are treated like a dump stat. They won't really dedicate people to checking out anymore unless that's all they can do, e.g. elderly, so someone who's a cashier all day tends to be slow because they're accomodating that person. So you could be the fastest cashier in the world but it won't mean anything as far as raises, etc. Your fast cashiers are often pulled off and stocking unless its super busy.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#24

Post by kjkjadksj »

theamk wrote: post #11
usbpoet wrote: post #2

What's the purpose of the green square, anyways? Why not just have a regular camera feed?

Increase deterrence effect to scare away shoplifters. Home depot goes out of the way to make its cameras visible. There is a large "camera" sign, bright light to catch your attention, a visible display to show it's not a fake, and sometimes even a motion activated chime. I assume the green square around the face is the next step in a game.

The shoplifters don’t care. Look at any hardware section at homedepot. Half the bags are ripped open. Try and find some stock they say is there online. Its not it already got stolen. The registers is not where they need to be combatting theft. It is everywhere else in that store.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#25

Post by _DeadFred_ »

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #19
bgwalter wrote: post #12

Don't use self-checkouts. You do all the work, slower than the cashier, and are treated like cattle. Often there is a supervisor breathing down your neck and demanding the receipt before the exit doors open. Now there is facial recognition.

I drive to the store, pick things up off the shelf, carry them all around the store, take them to my car, drive home, bring them into the house, but moving the items twelve inches across a bar code reader is "work"? I need some low paid worker to do that trivial part so I can feel some sort of status of having been served?

No, it's to offload the burden/liability of being accused of shoplifting. If a cashier messes up, it's on the store. If you do, it's on you. Thanks but I'm not willing to assume that liability with little benefit to me.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#26

Post by os2warpman »

eth0up wrote: post #20

I frequent the Home Despot and Lowe Life's, until recently, traditionally favoring the Home Despot. The last two visits revealed the complete elimination of checkout lines and the appearance of a new cluster of self service registers with a new orientation perpendicular to the old lines. As I stood before the register, looking at the large monitor, I watched my dehumanized face beleaguered by green lines. I realized…

>I realized it had no other purpose but to foist an impression of my dirty face toward me, conveying my position as a filthy, groveling consumer pestering them with my petty needs.

I look at myself and go "damn that's one sexy dude I'm gonna jut out my chin and stand up straight so if anyone looks at this, they fall in love with me".

Also, the staff doesn't identify as anything except someone trying to make it through their day.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#27

Post by namibj »

bgwalter wrote: post #16
richwater wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slower than the cashier...Often there is a supervisor breathing down your neck Not sure what stores you're going to go but this is nowhere near my experience.

You scan faster than a trained cashier? Do the self-checkouts in the US use RFID? Here in the EU I have to scan, clumsily and slowly.

Bold of you to assume Walmart and the like train their cashier's on speed.

(I wish I was kidding; discounters that squeeze costs everywhere including cashier throughput seem to be the exception in retail.)

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#28

Post by os2warpman »

bgwalter wrote: post #16
richwater wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slower than the cashier...Often there is a supervisor breathing down your neck Not sure what stores you're going to go but this is nowhere near my experience.

You scan faster than a trained cashier? Do the self-checkouts in the US use RFID? Here in the EU I have to scan, clumsily and slowly.

I was a trained cashier many years ago because I didn't grow up privileged so I had to work retail (and dishwasher and waiter) jobs.

Not only do I have the muscle memory, still after 30 years, I also have the added incentive of knowing the value of my own time, not being fatigued from hours of work, the ability pre-position items in the cart at an optimal orientation for handling and scanning, and foreknowledge of what items I have and a plan for how best to bag them that was made prior to my arrival at self-checkout.

So, yeah, I scan faster.

Much faster.

edit: oh man this has brought up a bunch of frustrations. Why do customers just pile shit on the counter? When I interact with a cashier, like at a gas station on a long road trip, every item I place on the counter has the barcodes oriented towards the person, so they can just "zap zap zap zap" the items rapid-fire without handling them. My bag (I live in a civilized state that has banned plastic bags) is ready and waiting, items are organized and presented in an order that make sense for ease of bagging. My payment method is ready. The experience is efficient and quick.

It takes no mental effort to do any of this and yet I am constantly stuck behind people who act as though they are purchasing things for the first time in their entire lives and the process is as foreign to them as communicating in the language of an extraterrestrial intelligence is to me.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#29

Post by fragmede »

bgwalter wrote: post #15
HiroshiSan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my Walmart there is roughly 10-15 self checkouts vs 3 cashiers where people with full carts are waiting in line. Self checkout is great if you have a few items. Also cashiers aren’t that fast considering they have to scan, bag (in some places) and then take your payment. Some self checkouts are better than others the worst ones are the ones that don’t let you take your items off the scale after scanning and then t…

If no one used the self-checkouts there would be 15 cashiers.

No, there wouldn't be. Having to have 15 people on staff and manage them and pay them is a big cost to the store owners. Self checkout machine costs $xx,000, amortized over 10 years, vs $15/hr and other overhead for a human being.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#30

Post by eth0up »

os2warpman wrote: post #26
eth0up wrote: post #20

I frequent the Home Despot and Lowe Life's, until recently, traditionally favoring the Home Despot. The last two visits revealed the complete elimination of checkout lines and the appearance of a new cluster of self service registers with a new orientation perpendicular to the old lines. As I stood before the register, looking at the large monitor, I watched my dehumanized face beleaguered by green lines. I realized…

>I realized it had no other purpose but to foist an impression of my dirty face toward me, conveying my position as a filthy, groveling consumer pestering them with my petty needs. I look at myself and go "damn that's one sexy dude I'm gonna jut out my chin and stand up straight so if anyone looks at this, they fall in love with me". Also, the staff doesn't identify as anything except someone trying to make it throug…

I think a bit of Peter Principle and role enmeshment is at play here. Halo effect? Moral disengagement?

Or perhaps it's truly pure gratitude and warm hearted loyalty for having a job, any job, which our future suggests won't be very common soon.

On a more serious note, I don't think it's terribly valid to dismiss these behaviors (Home Despot mug shaming, not zealous employee bots) as nothing more than a fun opportunity to admire one's reflection. It may not by itself be a keystone stride on the path of anomie, but it's a stride indeed and I don't want that kind of society. Maybe you do. Home Depot and Blackrock certainly do. I don't.

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