Some Target baskets can track you in-store. Here’s what to know

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            <p class="fact_check_info_description">Certain Target shopping baskets feature Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that communicate their physical location to smart overhead lighting systems. These lights interface with the Target mobile app to pinpoint a customer's location, offer indoor navigation, and deliver targeted promotions. Because these basket-attached beacons only broadcast coordinates and do not gather personal shopper data, it is technically the mobile application—rather than the beacon itself—that handles customer tracking.</p>
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<p>Over the course of August and September 2026, social media posts <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@user60342208753/video/7679448051202657566">spread</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/7GPS-U2SZ">archived</a>) across multiple platforms alleging that Target embedded Bluetooth trackers on its in-store baskets to follow shoppers.</p>

<p>The viral narrative originated from an August 29 <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@user60342208753/video/7679448051202657566">TikTok video</a> featuring an individual dressed as a Target employee who warned viewers about the basket attachments.</p>

<p>The speaker in the video stated:</p>
<blockquote>
    <p><span>Hello, I just want to make a PSA: You are now being tracked at Target. These baskets, this thing, that's a tracker, so they're now tracking shoppers at Target, at your local Target, for, supposedly, "consumer habits."</span></p>
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<p><iframe data-src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7679448051202657566" class="lazy_load_iframe" scrolling="no" style="height: 619px;border: 1px solid #e3e3e4;border-top: 0;border-radius: 9px;width: auto;"> </iframe></p>

<p>Similar warnings quickly populated <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/28133422823015877">Facebook</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/EX4B-MZQZ">archived</a>), <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DcuNYurTlHb/">Instagram</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/RK76-JNUR">archived</a>), <a href="https://www.threads.com/@highteaandhappyhour/post/DcwUEt7mUNH/target-is-now-putting-tracking-devices-in-their-carts-and-baskets-that-connect/">Threads</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/LNL2-JBYG">archived</a>), <a href="https://x.com/HustleBitch_/status/2095198789900325199">X</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/22GE-9MAP">archived</a>), and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1w2j52t/target_basket_hardware_joins_bluetooth_beacons/">Reddit</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/5AVK-2HNS">archived</a>), prompting numerous inquiries from concerned readers.</p>

<p>In essence, Target does utilize the Bluetooth beacons shown in the video to monitor spatial location within its stores. These hardware units transmit coordinates to smart LED <a href="https://corporate.target.com/news-features/article/2019/04/led-lights">lighting</a> overhead, which can subsequently relay location metrics back to the company's software application.</p>

<p>Acuity Brands, identified by Target as the manufacturer of its LED infrastructure, noted in a 2017 <a href="https://investors.acuityinc.com/news-releases/news-release-details/acuity-brands-inc-demonstrates-retail-indoor-positioning-system">press release</a> that combining its lighting systems with asset-mounted beacons allows retailers to provide precise indoor positioning data directly through mobile apps. Target extended its partnership with Acuity Brands for these indoor location services through a multiyear agreement in 2020.</p>

<p>Furthermore, Target's official privacy policy confirms that LED and Bluetooth <a href="https://www.target.com/c/target-privacy-policy/-/N-4sr7p#InfoCollection:~:text=Mobile%20Location%20Information">technologies</a> remained active for in-store positioning. The documentation <a href="https://www.target.com/c/target-privacy-policy/-/N-4sr7p#Choices:~:text=You%20may%20prevent%20your%20mobile%20device%20from%20sharing%20your%20location%20data%20by%20adjusting%20the%20permissions%20on%20your%20mobile%20device%20or%20within%20the%20relevant%20app.">advises</a> that customers preferring to keep their location private can disable location permissions either in their phone settings or inside the Target application.</p>

<h2>What We Know About Target's Tracking Infrastructure</h2>
<p>Following the initial post, the same TikTok creator published a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@user60342208753/video/7679856718955810078">follow-up video</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/96T8-Q9UA">archived</a>) pinpointing the exact hardware model as an Acuity Brands <a href="https://fccid.io/2ADCB-ATG2/User-Manual/User-Manual-4729214#google_vignette">Bluetooth beacon</a>. A Reddit contributor shared <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Target/comments/1rr5v1t/what_is_this/">photographs</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/DDM4-J2LJ">archived</a>) of an identical device bearing the same Federal Communications Commission ID several months prior.</p>

<p>FCC IDs are assigned to hardware components that comply with federal wireless communication <a href="https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/glossary/fcc-id/?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&amp;srsltid=AfmBOorVzVaxxIGBNmE8GIKIpD1-b3DnXx_mSVBsf2CnBOM35nIcgfr3">regulations</a>.</p>

<p>Documentation in the product's <a href="https://fccid.io/2ADCB-ATG2/User-Manual/User-Manual-4729214#google_vignette">user manual</a> specifies that it functions as a Bluetooth Low Energy device designed to broadcast its coordinates to "Atrius Assets," the software framework utilized by Target for indoor mapping since 2020.</p>

<p>Bluetooth Low Energy beacons are compact transmitters that continuously emit radio signals. Because these units are capable of transmission only rather than reception, they depend on external software to process the broadcasted data. By collecting signals from multiple beacons, surrounding systems can triangulate the precise whereabouts of a specific shopping basket.</p>

<h2>A History of Bluetooth Beacons at Target</h2>
<p>Industry reporting from TechCrunch indicates that major retailers began experimenting with beacon technology as early as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/05/target-launches-beacon-test-in-50-stores-with-expanded-rollout-later-this-year/">2015</a>, with Target integrating beacon-powered indoor mapping features into its mobile platform by <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/20/target-rolls-out-bluetooth-beacon-technology-in-stores-to-power-new-indoor-maps-in-its-app/">2017</a>.</p>

<p>Target's <a href="https://www.target.com/c/target-privacy-policy/-/N-4sr7p#InfoCollection:~:text=For%20example%2C%20precise,list%20and%20more.">privacy guidelines</a> state that customer mobile data and in-store Bluetooth signals are leveraged to "help you find nearby Target stores; or, in-store location through the use of your phone's blue tooth signal, LED light chip technologies or other technologies will permit Target to find nearby products for you, get you real-time deals, auto-sort your shopping list and more."</p>

<p>Shoppers wishing to avoid tracking can <a href="https://www.target.com/c/target-privacy-policy/-/N-4sr7p#Choices:~:text=You%20may%20prevent%20your%20mobile%20device%20from%20sharing%20your%20location%20data%20by%20adjusting%20the%20permissions%20on%20your%20mobile%20device%20or%20within%20the%20relevant%20app.">opt out</a> by modifying permissions directly on their mobile device or within the app settings. However, because the physical basket beacons cannot be turned off manually by consumers, the hardware will continue logging the basket's path throughout the building, though that telemetry cannot be linked to an individual unless app-based location sharing is active.</p>

<div class="h-text-md">
    <div class="h-text-bold">For further reading, Snopes has previously investigated a number of rumors about <a href="https://www.snopes.com/collections/target-rumors-collection/">Target</a>.</div>
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