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In Soviet US, Comcast Watches YOU

Posted by kdawson on from the you-have-none-get-over-it dept.

cayenne8 sends us to Newteevee.com for a blog posting reporting from the Digital Living Room conference earlier this week. Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior VP of user experience, stated that the cable company is experimenting with different camera technologies built into its devices so it can know who's in your living room. Cameras in the set-top boxes, while apparently not using facial recognition software, can still somehow figure out who is in the room, and customize user preferences for cable (favorite channels, etc.). While this sounds 'handy,' it also sounds a bit like the TV sets in 1984. I am sure, of course, that Comcast wouldn't tap into this for any reason, nor let the authorities tap into this to watch inside your home in real time without a warrant or anything."

7 of 404 comments (clear)

  1. Ah well ... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is one privacy issue that a little electrical tape can cure easily.

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    1. Re:Ah well ... by Original+Replica · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I mean really why do people put up with this? It's almost as if people are too lazy to defend their privacy and too eager to whine about their problems or something.

      In a way, whining about this in a widely read forum like Slashdot, is defending our privacy. Public awareness is the first step towards stopping things like this. Now the American public has an almost zero attention span, so awareness has to be loud and alarmist to even register on the social consciousness. To add to that problem, the evening news is alarmist about everything because it gains ratings, but further buries any real problems from getting the attention they need in order to be resolved.

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  2. 1984 by mikeabbott420 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A 'bit' like 1984? Who in the hell would go for this? Americans seem to have managed to convince their politicians and corporations that they have no interest in freedom at all.

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    1. Re:1984 by George+Beech · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Politicians and corporations seem to have managed to convince Americans that they have no interest in freedom at all

      fixed it for ya

  3. Already there? by symbolset · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What makes you think the camera is not already there? Have you disassembled your cable box?

    Food for thought. Your cable box could have a camera already. If you have cable internet you know it has enough bandwidth for monitoring you.

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  4. Re:It will get forced on us by Zymergy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well.... that is until someone's underage teenage son and his underage girlfriend decide to shed all their clothes and have brazen sex in front of the cable box... The legal details of that scenario would be very interesting...
    -What does legally happen when some adult's Comacast 1984-style bidirectional TV box "inadvertently" observes illegal underage nudity and sex. I am sure if this data was in any way streamed over their network there would be numerous state and federal laws violated (or if it were retained in any way), not to mention grounds for a very hefty lawsuit.
    It would make for some interesting legal reading in any case.

  5. Re:They knew who I was. by aurispector · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Heh. It's hard to believe someone thought this was a good idea. After the recent warrentless wiretap fiasco, it's brutally obvious that this would be abused by some government agency somewhere. Fascists exist in every society.

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