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TiVo Selling Data on Users' Watching Habits

Posted by Zonk on from the that-little-antenna-guy-is-watching-you dept.

Gyppo writes "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that TiVo is collecting and selling data on what parts of broadcasts people are rewinding for review and what commercials they are skipping. The data collection is part of a service the company provides to advertisers and television networks, collecting anonymous data on their users' commercial-watching habits. The data they provide is a random subset of their overall userbase, detailing which commercials are skipped and which are actually watched. The article mentions the possibility for privacy abuse, but with this application of technology Tivo is not providing access to what any one individual user watches via the service."

3 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe a Good Thing? by KillerDeathRobot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm inclined to think that maybe this is a good thing. If no individual privacy is being trampled, then it's good for TiVo to have another revenue stream and a way to keep networks and advertisers happy, since generally the content providers have been working pretty hard to fight against DVR.

    --
    Thinkin' Lincoln - a web comic of presidential proportions
  2. Re:in CCCP by mopslik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Only on /. would parent be modded "insightful" instead of "funny".

  3. What do you expect? by stickb0y · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh come on. Everyone with a TiVo (and even those without) should know that TiVo collects this type of anonymous, aggregate data. Haven't they done that since the beginning? Did you really think they wouldn't provide that data to third parties?

    And frankly, I think it's a good thing. You guys bitch and moan when your favorite TV shows get cancelled because the Nielsen families' interests aren't representative of your own. You guys bitch and moan about advertisers not making more interesting commercials. Well, here you have TiVo, making geek-friendly devices collecting television data about shows and commercials that tech enthusiasts actually watch, and now you guys bitch and moan about that too.