(The Armchair Mayor takes a picture of himself having his picture taken)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Get used to being watched while you shop

Aug 24, 2019 | 6:54 AM

I WALKED INTO WALMART the other day.

As I passed the greeter at the door, I saw a staff member directing traffic in the checkout zone, asking shoppers if they wanted a cashier, express lane or self-service.

It’s the self-serve thing that’s caused a bit of a fuss with some customers. Some people foam at the mouth as soon as it’s mentioned.

I chatted briefly with the nice traffic person. The self-checkout was installed about four weeks ago, she said, and it’s been going well. A little confusion, maybe, but shorter lineups.

Indeed, there were almost no lineups at all on this morning. Most were going through the traditional cashier checkouts but a few were using the self-serve scanners. There might be something wrong with me, because I don’t mind self-serve.

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Home Depot and the Save-On up the hill use them. If there’s a cashier without much to do I’ll go that route but otherwise I happily use the self-serve and scan my own purchases.

Yesterday, I was in Shoppers and noticed they have three new self-serve scanners, so I decided to try one. Hit by a barrage of graphics and text, I stood there staring stupidly at it part way through the process. The lone cashier answered my plaintive call for help, came over and told me, “You have to do what it says.” Then she punched a few buttons, reading the accompanying instructions as she went.

Really, though, I don’t know why anyone complains about them, unless they just need something to complain about.

Anyway, the point about the Walmart scanners is this. As you stand in front of them, a message pops up on a small monitor above the one that gives you the price of your items and asks for your money. This one tells you a recording “is now in progress.”

Then, as if you’re looking into a distorted mirror, your image stares back at you.

Another employee was there keeping an eye on things, so I inquired as to the purpose of having my picture taken.

“They told us it’s for security reasons,” he said.

Of course, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of myself having my picture taken. Being watched while we shop seems to be something we’ll have to get used to.

For example, both the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association and the North Shore Business Improvement Association are investigating a group purchase of video-surveillance cameras for their member stores.

As Carl DeSantis of the KCBIA put it, the objective is to stop people from “doing bad things.”

The KCBIA announced the move last week, and the NSBIA followed up a couple of days ago.

NSBIA’s Jeremy Heighton posted an explanation in the organization’s online newsletter, saying store owners “are looking for ways to reduce theft, increase staff security, and provide credible evidence for response agencies such as the police.”

Technology and the cloud are making it easier and easier to use security camera systems but Heighton acknowledged “the tricky side,” which is to ensure individual rights and freedoms as well as privacy are protected.

He looked at the 2008 report from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which laid out guidelines for businesses using security cameras. Among them are limiting the use and viewing range of cameras as much as possible, placing signage to warn the public that surveillance is being used, and giving individuals access to information about themselves.

A lot of stores have surveillance cameras at their tills. But one of the stated purposes of the BIA initiative is to gather evidence on break-ins and graffiti, and DeSantis also mentioned the nuisances of drug use and other unacceptable behaviour outside businesses, so it’s not just about what goes on inside the store.

That means pointing cameras outside as well as inside.

Since the use of video surveillance on sidewalks has been contentious over the years, I asked Heighton to clarify for me. He said his reading of it is that as long as the intention is to protect private property rather than random surveillance of the public, it’s OK.

It’s not much different than surveillance cameras around private residences, he said. If a business installs a camera in a back alley to deter graffiti vandalism, or at the front door to protect against break-ins, the video might capture incidental activity but that’s acceptable.

Back to Walmart, I find a monitor recording my presence to be a bit off-putting. We expect it at ATMs but while buying dog kibble or a pair of socks, not so much.

As one guy commented online, he doesn’t like the idea that on a day he didn’t get around to shaving his face it’s stored on some corporate database.

But this is where we’re at. I’m not sure how my image helps keep Walmart safe from crooks, but I accept that it does. I can avoid it by lining up for a cashier if I want.

The BIA surveillance camera proposal arises from the frustration of merchants at being ripped off. Walmart wants to streamline its checkouts but the price is an invasion of our personal space with a camera literally in our face.

We live in an age of minimum trust. Whether we’re filling up at the gas station, getting some cash or paying for a pack of gum at a convenience store, chances are a machine is watching us.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.