"In recent years, data companies have harnessed new technology to immediately identify what people are watching on internet-connected TVs, then using that information to send targeted advertisements to other devices in their homes... Samba TV is one of the bigger companies that track viewer information to make personalized show recommendations... Once enabled, Samba TV can track nearly everything that appears on the TV on a second-by-second basis, essentially reading pixels to identify network shows and ads, as well as programs ... and even video games played on the TV. Samba TV has even offered advertisers the ability to base their targeting on whether people watch conservative or liberal media outlets and which party’s presidential debate they watched... The big draw for advertisers...is that Samba TV can also identify other devices in the home that share the TV’s internet connection... Enabling the service meant that consumers agreed to Samba TV’s terms of service and privacy policy, the opt-in screen said. But consumers couldn’t read those unless they went online or clicked through to another screen on the TV. The privacy policy, which provided more details about the information collected through the software, was more than 4,000 words, and the terms exceeded 6,500 words..." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
I like my TVs and cars old and stupid Also, I don't really use TVs anymore. Just PCs with huge displays. There's nothing that I need to get from broadcast or cable.
Same here. I gave and give up on satellite/cable TV since commercials are from hell anymore and all the effort put into them is only to incite absolute disgust, the silliness and foolish babel is enough to make you puke rivers or if your not a drinking person, to turn you into one. Oh, and on topic, no way I will ever own-and don't now, a so-called smart tv tied into the world web. Not happening. Tether your OFFLINE PC with all your best favorite shows and movies and use HDMI to enjoy TV again at it's absolute best with today's world & influence completely locked out. As in OUTSIDE THE GRID
Good job Lone Ranger on staying up with this. This privacy invasion technique being systematically embedded into the most basic and long standing of home devices like the TV set proves there are some dastardly designs being actively formulated, manufactured, and marketed to SPY on home users thru even their TV sets. As far as the Government oversight interests go, I agree with a FTC investigation if nothing else just to see how far those vendors have gone and are going to invade your privacy with these.
In the meantime while hoping for a true solution there are a couple of simple things to do that will assist in mitigating a network wide snoop scenario. Its quite easy to place a "smart TV" on a separate LAN so its isolated from all your other devices. I know this won't eliminate some of what this thread is about but it can prevent the spread to a network wide device snooping situation. If you don't know how to use a unique LAN then at least place the TV on the "guest network". Most routers are configured to keep the guest devices away from the main network devices. Two small things that can really mitigate.
