Tivo Tracks Superbowl Viewing Habits

ThePretender writes "Sprinkled in the Janet Jackson boob stories is an alarming bit of information: Tivo tracks subscribers' viewing habits. They know how many times the boob was viewed, among other good-to-have (meaning data worth $$) information. Yes, if you agreed to Tivo's privacy policy you knew they could do this, with the promise that you aren't identifiable. Put on the tin foil hats? Or just another way for them to keep your monthly fee down (snicker)." A story from 2002 has more information and makes clear that Tivo does have the capability to record every click you make on the remote control, at all times. Previously Tivo said they tracked 10,000 people for the Super Bowl, this year 20,000.

Comments

Lots of rewind + pause during halftime I'll bet :)

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Re:Is there a privacy issue?

[SydShamino]

Did they just store the information to figure out how many times people watched the breast shot, then delete it all right away?

Or, will they keep the information around a while, in case they want to go back and analyze it more for other things?

If they keep it around, what stops a prosecutor from getting a subpoena to see your viewing habits? If TiVo collects and stores the data for any amount of time, a judge can issue an injunction to stop them from deleting it if there is reasonable cause to believe that it can affect a criminal investigation.

And, with the unPatriot Act, forget about that judge and subpoena bit. Any federal agent can call Tivo and find out if you decided to watch "The Crucible" on PBS instead of the superbowl. That would immediately put you on the watch list as unAmerican!

(Disclaimer: I don't have a TiVo, I have a DishDVR which is not connected to a phone line. Does the TiVo privacy policy say how long they store the data, and if the data is stored with any numbers that could track it back to the original user? "Not pass along" data makes me assume that they do store the data.)

Re:Prudish hysteria...mod down

[steelerguy]

this article had nothing to do with prudish america. this is completely offtopic and you just used it as a pulpit for your little rant.

this should be modded right down.