TV maker unlawfully tracked viewing habits

[CheepHeep]

Cheep News

 

 

 

As if we weren't being spied on enough.....Privacy has become a thing of the past. Damn corporations.

 

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TV maker Vizio has agreed to pay out $2.2m in order to settle allegations it unlawfully collected viewing data on its customers.

The US Federal Trade Commission said the company’s smart TV technology had captured data on what was being viewed on screen and transmitted it to the firm’s servers.

 

The data was sold to third parties, the FTC said.

Vizio has said the data sent could not be matched up to individuals.

It wrote: " [The firm] never paired viewing data with personally identifiable information such as name or contact information, and the Commission did not allege or contend otherwise.

 

"Instead, as the complaint notes, the practices challenged by the government related only to the use of viewing data in the ‘aggregate’ to create summary reports measuring viewing audiences or behaviours.”

'Second-by-second'

 

The FTC said the data collection began in February 2014 and affected around 11 million televisions.

"Vizio collected unique data from each household with a Vizio smart TV that included not only second-by-second viewing information, but also the household’s IP address, nearby access points, zip code, and other information,” the FTC said in a blog post explaining the settlement.

"They also shared that information with other companies."

It added: "This settlement stops Vizio’s unauthorised tracking, and makes clear that smart TV makers should get people’s consent before collecting and sharing television viewing information.”

 

As part of the settlement Vizio agreed to more prominently tell its customers how data is stored and collected, and to seek firmer, clearer consent beforehand. The company has been ordered to delete the data it collected.

Smart TVs - sets that have additional features such as on-demand viewing or video calling - have raised privacy concerns before. In 2015 it emerged Samsung’s models were transmitting potentially sensitive voice data without users' knowledge.

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source:http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38889975

[Roboes]

I have a Samsung smart tv and in order to use the web browser, the EULA stipulated that one must accept sharing its browsing history with samsung in order to use that service. You cannot use it without agreeing to this.  Hmmmm, I wonder who their selling that info to?

Shady...

[CheepHeep]

I have a Samsung smart tv and in order to use the web browser, the EULA stipulated that one must accept sharing its browsing history with samsung in order to use that service. You cannot use it without agreeing to this.  Hmmmm, I wonder who their selling that info to?

Shady...

Nosy Buggers. 

[Vanaraud]

Yep, only thing Vizio didn´t do probably is that they didn´t put on screen: "Are you accepting the terms or we render you TV useless piece of junk?" notice.

Till now some people got some special equipment installed to their cable in order to monitor TV viewing habits and probably paid?

[Alphaloki]

Welcome to 1984. That's why I'll never buy a so-called smart TV. I got a small media box connected to the TV's HDMI port. No spying TV, thanks.

[CheepHeep]

Welcome to 1984. That's why I'll never buy a so-called smart TV. I got a small media box connected to the TV's HDMI port. No spying TV, thanks.

 

Hahah Few years back, we used to use this really old black and white TV . Now we dont have a TV

[Alphaloki]

TBH I don't even watch TV. I haven't even bothered connecting the TV to the TV cable. I mostly use it to watch my own collection of movies and play retro games via the media box.

[CheepHeep]

TBH I don't even watch TV. I haven't even bothered connecting the TV to the TV cable. I mostly use it to watch my own collection of movies and play retro games via the media box.

 

Same here. Everything is online now.

[vehx]

TBH I don't even watch TV. I haven't even bothered connecting the TV to the TV cable. I mostly use it to watch my own collection of movies and play retro games via the media box.

i am the exact same ... the comcast box is still on the floor unplugged , since the day i moved in lol , as far as games , i mostly play E.T. , or others on my ps3 console , i have a huge collection of dvd's and even more vhs tapes lol , and yes i actually have a vhs deck still connected to my screen lol .. people should really think about the "internet of things" as it is called ... and where as vizio says that there was nothing matching the data collected to actual people , samsung's EULA actually tells you to "watch what you say" ... it is rediculous that your microwave oven or your can opener would have wifi connectivity ,,, and a scarry fact to consider ,,,, these appliances do no need your permission or even a password to access your wifi network ,, or anyone elses .. they will log onto the strongest / closest signal ,,, and thanks to the NSA , there are mandatory backdoors built into every modem / router  , so you wont even know that they are on your network ,, all so that if you are plotting a massive act of violence , or political assasination , while standing in front of your refrige or microwave with the munchies , they will know about it .....or just mayby ,,, its so they can know everything you do , say , buy , eat , etc.  so that they can catagorize you , and target specific advertisments to you ,, while at the same time studying you to see if you may or may not be a social problem in the future .....all based on what kind of soda you drink or what kind of tissue you wipe your ass with .... seriously ...... its my business if i want to wipe my ass with soda , ,, stand in my kitchen wearing cowboy boots and a tutu singing im an oscar meyer wiener .....  so ... it is for this reason that i am a fan of old tech / low tech .... non smart devices ,,, and especially things that can be serviced and not just thrown away when they break ...ok im done   ... sorry cheep if this wasnt up to my ususal standards for ranting lol ,  im still dealing with the lose of my friend ...