Wal-Mart Obtains Personal Information Under False Pretenses

Your information was required due to complaints and issues with
refunding rejected passport photo's. With no personal information in
our system, we have no way to pull up that transaction, and issue the
refund.

Though if people kept their receipts, this wouldn't be an problem.

Like another gentleman mentioned, we could issue a dummy week, roll,
and customer #,but if you lose your receipt, and ours are all "Dummy"
numbers, how are we to know which is YOURS?

Hence why your information was required.

I'm at the paranoid end of the spectrum. I don't like all the
information that is collected about me and that is used. Granted, I
probably have different experiences than a lot of people here, what
with having been institutionalized for years, my parents' obsession
with privacy (or the lack of it), and the way that if I get into a
struggle over basic access issues all of a sudden everybody who works
for that company knows my name forever.

My parents made me read "1984" when I was 11, and it struck me as
ridiculously boring: I was raised with beliefs (and they weren't
exactly ex nihiilo) that suggested that we already lived in that
world. And I flat-out refuse to log in to YahooGroups. (On the other
hand, for some years now I have insisted on buying any subversive
books I might want with a credit card, even if I have cash. Yes, I'm
petty like that.)

So while the information WalMart wanted here does not seem to me to be
a very big deal to give, I do think I understand where Dennis is
coming from. If the reason given for insisting on the information
isn't the real reason, then I think "false pretenses" is even fair,
although it's not how I would have phrased it. I think it's possible
that nobody ever told the employees on the sales floor why they needed
the information and that someone at some point settled on this "you
have to prove who you are" thing as the most likely reason, and passed
it along. But it seems not to be the actual reason, in which case
whether the answer Dennis got is at root a lie or a confabulation it
is still not the truth.

I also really respect his acknowledgement that the employee has to
follow her employer's directions in this matter and that his quarrel
is with someone else. It's very easy to forget that in the heat of
the moment.

There is something very freeing about being able to do things
anonymously, whether it's that nobody knows you as Dennis W. of 123
Madeup Lane or that nobody knows you as Cripple Guy. And the constant
information gathering frustrates me too, whether it's done by the
government or mass merchandisers or public transit or whoever.

'It's only a picture, one which could be taken at home,...' No way!!
Try it. If you present your home made pictures with your passport
application, you'll be told to go to an authorized agency for them.
You'll be asked for the same information and if you refuse to give it,
you'll be turned away. ID is not required by the place you have the
pictures taken, it's required (quite detailed, too) by the federal
agency that issues the passports.

You seem to have a hang up about obtaining so-called personal
information 'under false pretenses.' Perhaps your know-it-all
attitude put the gal on the defensive and she tossed out the first
thing that came to mind. At least she was thinking on her feet even
though you didn't like the answer she gave you and you decided to make
a big deal out of it.

I'm not sure what the reason is for for wanting information like what
they requested but it certainly isn't required by ANY stretch of the
imagination for passport photos. I've taken passport pictures for a
good 7 years and there has never been the requirement for even a name.


At my place a passport photo is considered just another type of order.
On an ordinary order we do ask for name and phone number but it's not
for any reason other than easy access to the order when the person
comes to pick up the order or to be able to call them if there's a
problem with their order.

From time to time a person will refuse to give their name. No problem.
Most stores where I've worked have put in a "dummy client" where the
name is "passport" and the phone number is 555-****

You know all the cards the stores require you to have in order to get
the cheaper price? Well you gave all your personal info to get that
card. So every time you buy something and give them the card, your
personal info is entered into the register!

I think this is really silly you need to give a card to the cashier to
get a better price on their items!

I only found out after working for WM myself. That's why I thought
I'd share that bit of info to help out. Unfortunately, the way that a
lot of companies work is they tell their employees "do this, then
that, then the other," without ever explaining the need to do this,
that, and the other. You probably caught the employee off guard with
that question, and rather than look stupid and say, "I don't know.",
they gave you what they thought was a "Ha! It's important, so shut up
now!" answer. If I were you, I'd contact the studio's supervisor and
direct the questions to them.

Even though the portrait studio carries WM's name, there was no time
that I could see that they were required to work under WM policy. As
I had said, they hired their own employees, handled their own cash and
payment processing, they did not report to WM management, they weren't
even on our phone system.

Does no one actually get their picture done at the DMV anymore? It's a
wait you have to make anyway, you might as well get the picture
there.

And I'm really sick of hearing the term "homeland security" slung
around like hashbrowns in a skillet. It lost its appeal after the
first year.

This should make you feel better the photo center inside walmart (the
one that takes pictures, not develops them) is a third party. They
aren't owned by walmart, they are owned by someone else. Not sure
about all of them, but the one in my store just went bankrupt and
closed. So your info is probably on a pc that will be liquidated and
sold. Hope they erase it first. Of course it is still possible to
retrieve deleted data in some cases. Good Luck !

Let's get off of "personal information."
This appears to be the wrong wording as people do not see the real
point here. It's information pertaining to me but not nessessary to
Wal-Mart. I'm not sure how else to word it, it's my info..
The point attempted to be made is that Wal-Mart misinforms customers
about why they want this information.

If Wal-Mart has to know a person's identity for security reasons they
would ask the customer for photo ID to prove the customer is who they
claim to be.
Wal-Mart does not ask for ID, what kind of security is this if a
person puts themself down as Fred Flintstone, the Wal-Mart employee
isn't going to prove it differently.

It's only a picture, one which could be taken at home, there is no
security risk here.
There is nothing in the law that says a person seeking a passport has
to go to a business trained or licensed for photo's.
The real security check begins when the person seeking a passport
turns their application with picture over to the county clerk, along
with proper identification.

Asking for name, address, and phone number is pointless for a picture.
I can do more harm with a gallon of gas, and when I can afford one I'm
not asked for this information.

No other department I have visited at Walmart goes out of its way to
get my public information. This may just be an oddity. I doubt they
are doing anything clandestine with your information.

If you didn't want to reveal your name, address and phone number, then
you should have gone elsewhere to get your passport photo taken and
hoped they wouldn't ask for the same information. I honestly don't
see what the big deal is and certainly don't agree that Walmart is
"obtaining a person's personal information under false pretenses".

I don't think this is very personal information.

When I worked at Walgreens in the photo lab, we could collect the
person's name, #, and address. Now if they asked for your SSN.. THAT
would be different, but anyone can find the info we asked in a phone
book.

The information that you consider so sacred can be easily accessed
through many means, including the phone book.
Also, when you write a check, they get way more precious info than
that.

It's good to be careful these days, but this seems so minor.

I don't see what the big deal is about this information. I could find
it out about you with a simple google search, or by paying an online
PI firm $25 (and get much more information).

Your bank likely is selling your much more personal information to
other companies for marketing purposes. I'd make a bigger stink about
THAT.

They may have to keep a record of Pass Port Photo information so the
FBI, CIA,Sheriff's Office,County Clerk, State Department or Homeland
Security could find a trail in their database that someone who claimed
to be you with the pass port information indeed had their pass port
photo taken at a state approved Pass Port Photography vendor. (and not
at home or some other location not approved to take Pass Port Photos)
Once THEY (Not Walmart) prove who you are, and the information matches
up and that you don't have outstanding warrants, aren't on probation,
aren't on a prohibited travel list, are in compliance with legal
residency requirements, and have U.S. Citizenship or a Valid visa.

Unless you can prove Walmart prfits or shares the information with
anyone else, I doubt any laws were broken.