A Walmart customer has shared a disturbing PSA about the retailer’s self-checkout cameras, warning they might be capturing “inappropriate” angles. However, alleged Walmart workers are stepping in to refute that.
In a clip posted by user Cole W (@colew135) on June 6, the TikToker shared a personal experience from a shopping trip with his family. He begins, “So I just want to put a PSA out there to anybody that shops at Walmart and uses the self-checkout, okay?”
Cole claims that Walmart’s self-checkout cameras can invade customers’ privacy by capturing inappropriate angles, particularly for those wearing skirts or dresses. “That camera can see straight up that. It can see your a**. It can see your butt. It can see anything under there,” he alleges.
Cole warns, “Be very careful when using self-checkout at Walmart. Because you don’t know who is going to use that video or where that video is going.”
He further criticizes Walmart for allegedly prioritizing theft prevention over customer privacy.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Cole via TikTok comment and to Walmart via its media relations contact form.
@colew135 Walmart spies on women underneath their skirts using a lower under the cart camera at self check out. This is a public service announcement. @Walmart ♬ original sound – Cole W
Cole’s video quickly became a battleground for conflicting opinions
The comments section was flooded with responses, especially from individuals claiming to work at Walmart or in related fields. “I work at Walmart and we don’t have cameras underneath just at the top of the register,” one commenter wrote, refuting Cole’s claim.
Another commenter, identifying as a low-voltage techie responsible for installing Walmart’s self-checkout cameras, made a similar claim. “I install all the cameras on self checkouts. There is no camera underneath them!” they wrote.
“I used to install those self checkouts, and there was no such camera. Unless that’s changed within the last few months,” a third commenter shared.
Despite the backlash, Cole remained steadfast in his claims. In a follow-up video posted on June 7, he addressed the commenters doubting his claims directly, promising to provide evidence. “To all you people who think that I’m providing misinformation, I’m going to set every single one of you straight the next time that I go to Walmart, which according to my wife, will be tomorrow morning.”
However, at the time of writing, Cole has not posted any new videos on his TikTok account.
This incident is just one of many recent stories involving Walmart’s self-checkout systems
In a recent incident, a TikToker recounted how a Walmart employee allegedly tapped a five-star rating on the self-checkout machine without her consent, raising concerns about possible management directives to secure high ratings. In another video, a shopper speculated that Walmart might be intentionally disabling self-checkout kiosks to push customers towards Walmart+ memberships.
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