Even though the new Amazon Go store is dependent on surveillance and data collection for its cashier-free store, some say it doesn’t necessarily push the boundaries of retailers' current data collection practices, The Washington Post reports. John Verdi, vice president of policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, said the process does not exceed data collection carried out now via loyalty programs and credit cards. While the store uses cameras, sensors and machine-learning algorithms to keep track of a person’s order, the company states it does not employ facial-recognition software. But Alvaro Bedoya, executive director at Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy & Technology, says the methods behind the store are different from other grocery stores since Amazon has the ability to analyze the shopping experience, “ …  Are they really only tracking you when you lift the item off a shelf? Or are they tracking where you move throughout the store, what you’re looking at, what sections you’re dwelling in?” (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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