The Target forensics lab (2024)

Target’s Security Evolution and Priorities

• Some see the forensics lab as proof that Target prioritizes loss prevention over customer interests, recalling the earlier HVAC-driven card breach.
• Others counter that Target’s internal tech stack has been significantly hardened since then (in‑house stack, Linux, tightened POS), with details like handheld 2FA logins and restrictions on where high-risk transactions can occur.
• A few note those systems can be flaky in practice, frustrating staff.

Economics of Retail Theft and Shrinkage

• One camp argues with 2–4% net margins, “it doesn’t take much theft” to threaten profitability; shrinkage is priced into markups and can meaningfully cut profits.
• Another side insists that, given high volume and ~30–50% gross markups, shoplifting has to be large before it alone sinks a store; failing stores likely have broader problems (location, sales mix, overhead).
• There is confusion and back‑and‑forth over gross vs net margin, and what “2% loss” actually measures.

Employee Theft vs Shoplifting

• Multiple anecdotes (Nordstrom, Home Depot, 7‑Eleven, bookstores, liquor stores) describe employee theft as the dominant or more sophisticated issue: skimming merchandise, manipulating clearance, “items falling off trucks,” safe slight‑of‑hand.
• Retailers invest heavily in internal investigations, video analysis, statistical anomaly detection, and interrogation techniques tailored to employees.

Surveillance, Facial Recognition, and AI

• Commenters note Target has long run multiple forensics labs and surveillance centers; Home Depot and others reportedly use facial recognition at checkout.
• Some expect AI to amplify this with models reconstructing high‑res faces from low‑res video, marketed to both private and public sectors, raising biometric privacy concerns (with Illinois cited as a partial brake).
• One asks what level of “forensic-grade profiling” is acceptable just to buy deodorant; another links this to broader inequality and locked‑up basics.

Self‑Checkout: Benefits vs Risks

• Supporters like speed, control over bagging, less contact (and illness), and fewer queues; some would “pay more” for it.
• Critics object to unpaid labor and fear of being falsely accused of theft, noting that cashier errors are harmless to the customer but self‑checkout errors can become criminal accusations (with a Walmart lawsuit cited).

Narratives, Deterrence, and Article Critique

• Several say viral shoplifting videos and corporate PR overstate external theft, which is only a fraction of shrinkage, while wage theft and internal fraud get less attention.
• Target is said to “build cases” until charges reach felony thresholds. Some view public talk of forensics labs as psychological deterrence more than technical necessity.
• The article itself is criticized as a light rewrite of older reporting and for basic editing errors, which some say undermines its credibility.
• A boycott reminder and mention of Target’s heavy involvement in urban surveillance round out the skepticism.