Usually connect to Walmart's WiFi but they changed their policy I guess, won't be doing that now...

I created an account while in the store with an email of fuckyou@thisisstupid.com and a basic password and surprisingly didn't have to verify the email. Then turned on a VPN to my house.

I plan on just creating a new account every time I go in just to fill up their database with nonsense.

I think the point of this post is all the stuff below the email field. Yikes.

In the EU they already had a complaint, because it violates GDPR, but in any case I would never use a public WiFi without a VPN, and even less in places with these conditions, there is also free WiFi in some Rstaurants (even in most McDonalds), public Libraries and others. Fuck surveillance advertising

Why would anyone interested in privacy connect to any public WiFi? That's crazy.

More like "we were doing this before, but now we have to tell you we are doing it".

For the email, you can use an email alias service like Addy or SimpleLogin. They're both open-source and offer free tiers. I never give out my real email to anyone now except actual contacts.

After that, I think a VPN would probably still work to disguise what you're doing from Walmart, but I'm not a 100% certain on that so I won't link any.

But yeah, definitely use email alias wherever you can.

Walmart, the biggest grocery retailer in the entire United States, uses face tracking in the majority of their stores in several sections, and we’re concerned about their Wi-Fi?

The Wi-Fi seems like such a minor problem compared to them collecting massive amounts of data off of something you aren’t consenting to explicitly.

Like you walk into their stores and they can know: How often you visit, what items you buy, what payment method you use most often, what items you looked at and what aisles you visit, who you bring with you, what your kids look like, what disabilities you may have, size of your household, and whatever else they want. There’s basically no respect for any privacy in their stores.

The US is a privacy nightmare in competition with China. Most of the US doesn’t have any option over their privacy. You just don’t get it here.

Fake email and vpn = Free private connection

Not sure about this Walmart case but most you can write any email like random letters a@gmail.com or not even the Gmail part as long as it's a valid looking mail and then works like you don't even have to confirm the email or anything.

Expecting privacy on someone else's network is absurd.

I always give some bs emails in those authentication forms. Mainly because as a client who tries to connect, I do not have internet access, so I cannot verify my email before they give me the access. And when they gave me access, there is no power in the world to make me do that 🤷

Never trust an open network. Even if the company providing isn't doing anything shady, the easy at which MITM (man in the middle) attacked, can be performed means that many insecure (and some secure) networks can be spoofed with a small amount of know-how.

Always make sure your connecting to a safe, secure wifi network, in a place where you expect that network to exist at.

If your phone connects in a place you wouldn't expect it to connect, double check what it's connecting to, and if necessary, disable your wifi.

You do realize they were almost certainly doing this before, right?

They can track you even if you dont accept. Turn Wifi off. If you connect, use VPN home.

it's not like they weren't doing this before

Please, think about the improved products and services before making any rash decisions.

relay.firefox.com

Brilliant service and add a VON om top it will make it no sweat.

Sometimes these login portals accept any old bogus email or burner account. They were logging your IP anyway so realistically doesnt add any more compromised dafa

Try luck with throwaway email + VPN. Although it's possible they'll still be able to identity you if you're the only one using that VPN on your local Walmart. At least they won't be able to see your traffic.

I've never agreed to this, but I might be on Walmart Wi-Fi from a long time ago. Once recently shopping at Walmart in person I got an email to my account saying something really creepy like, "rate your in store purchases" and sent me pictures of each item I bought IN STORE with an invitation to rate each. Also included my real name. This isn't even the email I use for my online pickup orders.

I am so happy to live in Sweden. All open WiFi networks here are free to use and requires no email or account (VPN recommended as always, though). Even at grocery stores.

Have you tried using any email? Literal example:

it@walmart.com

Somw setups don't validate much

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Imo, this is part of the problem with lack of privacy in today's world.

People will accept this more than not, without a second thought. This leads to the taking of a little bit more until one day you are left wondering where your privacy went.

Again, this is just my humble opinion.

Many people here suggesting a throwaway email and/or VPN. While this does migitate the impact somewhat, the only proper response is to not use their "service" and deactivate the WiFi fo your phone (else they might be tracking your MAC address).

Not only were they already collecting that information, they likely are collecting information about your position in the store from wifi positioning.

Yeah, you can pretty much assume that any random Wi-Fi asking for that information is already doing that. My local mall has one that will accept any old email but it certainly looks like this one wants you to create an actual Walmart account.

quick vpn over tor and firewall https://f-droid.org/en/packages/pan.alexander.tordnscrypt.stable/

In my experience you can type any vaguely email-like string there.

Agshfjfbsksns@jfjfdjjs.uej

Or something.

Have you tried using Tor? Sometimes it works.

Why can't you use cell service?

Well that's just plain invasive. I'll make sure to take myself off of their network next time I'm there.

It sounds to me like they are developing some tools to help map things inside the store. So they can give you directions to things you are looking for maybe. Also with this information they could do something similar to those Amazon stores where you just pick things up and walk out and it charges you automatically.

Not saying you all want to share the info with them. It is invasive. But as an engineer I can see so many cool features I could build with this information.

People that make systems like these are not scared of those that stop using em. What they fear is getting information wrong or spam. Using these facts you can then adjust to the changes.

Junk email + VPN, but I've found that most free wifi services like this explicitly try to inhibit the functionality of mobile VPN clients.

Temp-mail.org

This is messed up.

i'm pretty lucky to have unlimited data included with my phone plan. i would 100% have been hacked by now. public wifi is scary.

What I've found is that a lot of these sign in pages will let you "continue" without filling the email address field. And in the worst cases you can type a nonsense address you don't need to confirm and it'll take it.

You can just make up some e-mail as, without internet, you couldn't verify it. Also one of the rare cases where VPN directly improve your privacy.

Their app had a mobile scanner while shopping.

I've used it several times from mobile, but it often refuses to work, insisting I connect to the stores WiFi to enable mobile scanning.

I've never connected to their wifi, and never will; I have lots of other internet data running through my phone, it is just not feasible privacy wise to run all of their internet traffic through your wifi without reason (granted, if I got less lazy, and setup the VPN on my gateway, it could be a non-issue). It's not a technical requirement for the feature, and bad design that will always annoy me.

So Walmart has done it again, huh?

Why are all you mother fuckers shopping at Walmart. They are a welfare corporation offloading their costs to tax payers because despite making tons of money they pay shit and skirt employee benefits laws by keeping worker hours low and give new employees info on how to get financial aid such as food stamps.

At nearly any gas station in NRW, Germany it's this way as well and I absolutely hate it.

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At least they're telling you. There's also a lot of hidden surveillance in stores - they've done it with Bluetooth and cameras for some time. Things like monitoring how long you look at products and evaluating your reactions to displays.

just use a throwaway private email?

Ah, America, where public wifi is still a thing because they don't have mobile data.