Walmart allegedly snoops on your cash purchases — and no, it’s not the way you’re thinking

A viral post claims Walmart somehow knows what you buy, even if you pay in cash. Many assume the store somehow accessed the Walmart app on the customer’s phone, but the man who made the post says he didn’t have his phone with him — so how did it happen?

According to the shopper, “I walked to the electronics section and bought a USB charging cable with cash and then walked out.” They insist: “I have never had the Walmart app on my phone” — and, on that trip, they didn’t even bring their phone. During the visit, the shopper says, “I remember specifically … I didn’t have my phone on me.”

They tried to pull out the phone to show an employee the exact USB connector they wanted, only to realize it was not in their pocket. And yet, hours later, Walmart contacts them asking to review what they purchased

That’s impossible — unless Walmart had another way of knowing

According to comments and other posts, Walmart might know what you buy through facial recognition software. A comment on the post says, “I told y’all Walmart has state-of-the-art facial recognition technology!! Y’all thought I was playing, but this is for real now!”

Walmart’s privacy notice confirms that the retailer uses in-store cameras and other automated technologies “for security and operational purposes.” The notice also says they may collect images as part of store-visit surveillance. Since at least 2019, Walmart has used a computer-vision system called Missed Scan Detection at many of its locations nationwide.

Does Walmart really use facial recognition?

But whether they’re using facial recognition to track your cash purchases is unclear. A 2022 class-action lawsuit filed under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) claims that Walmart’s in-store cameras captured shoppers’ biometric data — including facial geometry — and used that data without informed consent. According to the lawsuit, the chain allegedly ran those advanced surveillance systems at its Illinois stores.

The complaint further alleges that Walmart used a third-party biometric system from Clearview AI to match shoppers’ faces against a database compiled from publicly available images. If true, that could allow Walmart to associate a face seen on camera with a name, email, or other identity, even if payment was made in cash.

Walmart, for its part, denied being a customer of Clearview. A company spokesperson told reporters Walmart “briefly evaluated a demo version” of Clearview’s software but did not proceed with a full deployment.

Crucially, Walmart often prompts cash customers to enter identifying information at the POS/self-checkout terminal for various reasons. If the shopper provided their phone number for a digital receipt, Walmart Rewards/cashback, or an employee discount, that transaction would be instantly tied to their existing customer account, allowing Walmart to contact them about the purchase later.

So is this happening — for real?

So, there is a real infrastructure in place that could, at least under certain conditions, track a shopper by face rather than payment method. Whether that is what triggered the email in the viral video, however, remains unproven. This could explain what happened — but there’s no confirmation

Until more definitive disclosures — from Walmart, independent audits, or court rulings — the scenario remains speculative. Still, the case raises serious privacy concerns: cash purchases once thought to be more private appear increasingly trackable.