Unbeknownst to most, Target has a top-rated forensic services laboratory that provides forensic examinations, and assists outside law enforcement with help on special cases.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/csi-walmart/521565/
Target and Walmart both declined to comment for this story, but in a press release from 2012, Target said it volunteers to get involved with with “felony, homicide, and special-circumstances cases.” In 2008, a Target spokesperson told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that a quarter of the cases it worked on were unrelated to the company itself.
so they look at surveillance video for murderers… they’re not solving outside crimes
Inside, they comb through video-surveillance records and spirit data out of devices that have seen better days
its a “digital forensics” lab… they’re investigating embezzlement… hackers…
the whole “target is the panopticon” thing is a clever viral marketing ploy to reduce shoplifting…
that and the thing where they supposedly keep tabs on you for years until you hit a felony total of shoplifting, THEN they bust you and you have to pay $5,000,000,000…
that’s not even how laws work…
They absolutely do.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/10/21/target-forensics-lab
MPR is MInnesota Public Radio, not ‘some local news blog’, and Target is headquartered in Minnesota.