The WSJ goes in depth today about Walmarts intense surveillance operation. According to the recently fired employee who intercepted calls and text messages from a New York Times reporter (and a few other Walmart employees) Walmart’s surveillance tactics include:

•Scanning employee’s email

•Logging all employee key strokes

•Using monitoring software to detect vendors viewing pornography on their computers

•Using monitoring software to read employee personal email such as hotmail or gmail

•Investigating outspoken critics of Walmart

•Sending “a long-haired employee wearing a wireless microphone to Up Against the Wal’s Fayetteville, Ark., gathering, and eavesdropped from nearby.”

•Locating Nu Wexler’s vacation photos, “Wal-Mart has far bigger concerns than my vacation photos,” said Mr. Wexler, after being informed of the surveillance. “Someone would have had to dig for quite a while to find that link.”

The 20 person “Threat Research” team operates from Walmart’s Arkansas headquarters in an office known as the “Bat Cave.” Sounds like fun. Not that we consider ourselves a “threat,” but if Walmart is really that interested maybe they should start following us on Twitter. They’ll see how incredibly boring we are. And that we like tea and muffins. —MEGHANN MARCO

Inside Wal-Mart’s ‘Threat Research’ Operation(Subscription) [WSJ] (Thanks, Nu!)
(Photo: Clean Walmart)

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