Worker Claims Target Is Using Basket-Mounted Trackers To Monitor Shoppers. Then Issues a Warning to Customers
Plot twist: The basket might be watching back.
Shopping at Target usually means grabbing a basket, picking up what you need, and heading to checkout. Most shoppers probably don’t think twice about the basket itself. But one worker claims a small device attached to it may be doing more than customers realize.
Stores already collect information about how customers shop. Even walking into Target and leaving without buying anything can affect the store’s customer metrics. But a device attached directly to a shopping basket has raised a different question about what Target may be tracking.
That’s what TikTok creator @user60342208753 is warning shoppers about in a video with 3.4 million views. While wearing what appears to be a Target uniform, the worker points to a device on a basket and claims it is being used to track shoppers.
Now People Have Questions
“Hello, I just want to make a PSA,” the worker begins before turning the camera toward a Target basket. He then points directly at the small device attached to it. “You are now being tracked at Target,” he claims. “These baskets, this thing, that’s a tracker.”
According to the employee, the technology is supposedly being used to gather information about shopping behavior. “So they’re now tracking shoppers at Target, at your local Target, um, for supposedly consumer habits,” he adds.
However, the short video does not explain exactly what the device tracks, what information it collects, or whether any data can be connected to an individual customer. The worker also does not provide documentation showing how Target uses the device, meaning his broader claims about customer tracking remain unverified.
Target already uses technology to monitor activity in other parts of its stores, particularly for security and loss prevention. For example, Target’s self-checkout cameras can monitor what happens around the kiosks. That does not necessarily mean the basket-mounted devices shown in the TikTok serve the same purpose.
Still, viewers had plenty to say about the worker’s warning. “I guess you can say we’re being, TARGETED? Eh?” one person joked.
Another commenter had a different workaround. “Jokes on them, I awkwardly carry everything in my arms to the register because I never think I need a cart or basket.”
Some viewers were less focused on the device and more surprised that an apparent employee posted the warning publicly. “Giving this message while in uniform is wild,” one person wrote.
Several viewers said they were already avoiding the retailer. “I haven’t shopped at Target since they got rid of DEI,” one person wrote. Another commented, “Still Boycotting Target,” while someone else added, “Good thing I’m still boycotting them.”
Others focused more directly on the alleged tracking. “At this point we all should just shut off our phones while shopping anywhere,” one viewer suggested.
The viral video may have convinced some viewers that Target is watching their every move, but the clip itself does not prove that. It remains unclear what the basket-mounted device actually records or whether it tracks shoppers themselves or simply the basket’s location.
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