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Ads May Soon Stalk You on TV Like They Do on Your Facebook Feed (bloomberg.com)
Targeted ads that seem to follow us everywhere online may soon be doing the same on our TV. From a report: The Federal Communications Commission is poised to approve a new broadcast standard that will let broadcasters do something cable TV companies already do: harvest data about what you watch so advertisers can customize pitches. The prospect alarms privacy advocates, who say there are no rules setting boundaries for how broadcasters handle personal information. The FCC doesn't mention privacy in the 109-page proposed rule that is scheduled for a vote by commissioners Thursday. "If the new standard allows broadcasters to collect data in a way they haven't before, I think consumers should know about that," Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, said in an interview. "What privacy protections will apply to that data, and what security protections?" For broadcasters, Next Gen TV represents an advance into the digital world that for decades has been siphoning viewers away to the likes of Facebook, Netflix, Google's YouTube and Amazon's Prime video service.
Can we please have Tom Wheeler back?
WTF is a "facebook feed"?
ATSC 1.0 works without an Internet connection for two-way communication. Sounds like its replacement will require each TV to be a connected device. This actually takes away a major advantage of over-the-air TV: that it's free and available without Internet.
If every TV will need Internet, then people might as well just watch Amazon or Netflix online -- over-the-air broadcasters are actually putting themselves out of business.
Me? I'll be at the Pirate Bay or enjoying theater and concerts in real life if this happens. No way that I'll ever allow a connected device with camera, screen, and mic into my home (aka a Telescreen from 1984).
I have a friend that works there that was all excited about being able to provide targeted TV ads, just like they do with internet advertising. I was like, dude, I'll cancel. Seriously.
Whenever there is nothing on TV (like, say, 99% of the time) my TV is basically a computer display for various things from entertainment to man pages, i.e. whatever the tuner is tuned to, I don't know.
To make matters worse, my remote is kinda wonky and sometimes changes channels by itself, which is why I keep it pointing to the wall whenever I watch TV (or rather, whenever it changes the channels because I forgot, change it back to what I wanted to see and THEN point it to the wall). So it's quite possible I "watch" Spongebob and Big Boobs Bazinga back to back.
Now profile THAT!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
If I am forced to watch ads, I might as well see something than I might be remotely interested in, not $MEDICINE for old people that I don't need to talk to my doctor about.
Something that "Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley" makes clear when Facebook set up their advertising system. They can track you whether you're logged in or not and associate what little they do know about you with third-party demographic data to create a comprehensive profile. TV advertisers want to do the same.
What is that.
And I'm at peace with that. I'll start learning how to play the guitar or something with my limited time on earth.
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filin...
Make sure they hear about it -- privacy is important, turning all TVs into IoT devices is stupid...
I'll just find something else to do.
We have a TV capable of being connected to the network/Internet. It's not connected and never will be. As far as I'm concerned the TV is a display device. It shouldn't be connected to anything, if I do connect anything it'll be some other device that I can disconnect and remove from the entertainment center if it proves to be a problem down the road.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I find these 'targeted ads' are either for something I've bought already, or for the exact same thing that I just looked at and didn't buy because I have already decided against it. In either case, I don't see how it is helping anyone.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Additionally, this would allow the broadcasters to charge fees directly to the viewers in order to watch OTA programs. So if you went OTA in order to avoid monthly cable subscription fees, kiss those days goodbye. You too will be charged the monthly $8 ESPN tax.
You mean, like use a versioning system that doesn't bother to respect major/minor/maintenance numbering?
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Guess who? No, not all republicans. Well, okay. All of them.
Don't forget the wonderful security we've seen in internet-connected devices....
cable / satellite systems with DVR can add ad's locally and cable can also at them at the headend. SDV cable systems can maybe even have 2-3 copy's of the same channel with different ad's.
This is the first I have heard of "Next Gen TV" and the alarming term "standard" used to describe it.
If it's actually a standard, then people will just run implementations that don't report detailed analytics. (Though obviously the server will know what file you requested or bought.) And these users also aren't going to tell their user-agents that they want ads, so analytics or not, there aren't going to be any ads. (Ads on TV are dead forever, except for product placement (and even with that, counter-measures will eventually get more popular).)
If people can't do that (because implementations won't be allowed to be made by anyone who has a user-friendly attitude), then it's not a standard and we'll just continue (and accelerate) the training of laypeople in How To Pirate.
Who is going to buy this new hardware? Seems like people dragged their feet just to bother to get HD OTA, let alone something else.
If every TV will need Internet..
..then I won't be watching TV anymore, at all.
Simple solution: Stop watching TV. Go outside. Do something interesting.
Kodi and other services will still exist -- just use the TV as an HDMI display and skip the ads :) Exactly what the broadcasters want, right -- more people being pushed towards "ad free" versions of their content.
It'll be great fun, watching football on Thanksgiving with a bunch of friends, when suddenly, my holiday shopping for my wife causes my personalized ads to show up at halftime. Good times, good times...
Check your premises.
...I cut the cord a long time ago.
If you watch Hulu, YouTube or even pay for CBS All Access - you're getting targetted ads in the shows (even if you pay extra with Hulu)
Netflix and Amazon PRIME don't do this so much (as such - you still get ads in the menus) but it's just a matter of time before they do.
That's "TV" today - Grandpa!
So is Facebook.
Nothing to see here, literally if you're not on these 2 advertisement vectors.
Just dump these shits ASAP.
That's not what it is tho.
Additional features will be available to internet connected devices like smart tvs but internet is not going to be required for basic reception.
Otherwise it would defeat the purpose of us even having a broadcast television network.
What they want is accurate viewer numbers but what they are going to find is they are only going to be able to get reports from homes with both internet and a smart tv.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
Look, I am a huge privacy guy, but I am also a huge freedom guy. If you have a problem with your TV spying on you, use a different TV or provider. Or ditch the TV; who needs one in 2017 with the internet available? No one is forcing you to use these services.
Honestly, if it gets so stupid that they actually force something like this on everyone, then I'm not going to be inclined to do a lot of extra work just to pirate every goddamned thing I might want to see, I'd just chuck the whole thing and read more books (paper books, mind you) or do something else. Or get more much-needed sleep, I guess, or maybe (shocking idea!) actually be more sociable with real, live people, in real, face-to-face settings. I dumped cable about 10 years ago and have used an antenna since then, if they're going to fuck everything up by forcing more ads on me then I'm DONE with it.
Exactly what data are they collecting that they already aren't, and how are they supposed to get it? I sit the couch and watch tv. As does my family. There is no way of knowing which of us is doing it, if we even really are in the room. We don't interact with it other than channel surfing. All stuff they can already gather.
I get it, the big picture is somehow they'll know your fridge is out of coke and they'll suddenly morph in sparkling cans of coke on every table in the restaurant that happens to be on tv. Fat chance. In the baby steps of even dreaming such a scenario I just don't get how they even get out of the starting gate in any meaningful way.
No way that I'll ever allow a connected device with camera, screen, and mic into my home
No cellphones allowed in your house?
... will consist of two channels - one having re-runs of Jersey Shore, the other with the 11 o'clock news on an hour's repeating loop.
You mean these large screens that still have some legacy hardware from the ancient media industry age in them?
Oh noes!
What's next? Spying on people using wax cylinders?
I will stop watching TV like I stopped using Facebook.
Jesus christ, they're fucking ads. Nobody is taking money from you and typically they are for things that you may be interested in for some reason or another. What kind of fucked up mind just sees progress, says CHANGE BAD, and chucks the whole bleeping thing? You have some major issues, bud. If you want to withdraw from society for a stupid non-issue, I guess that's your right. But you have serious, serious mental issues. You honestly might want to talk to someone about them, because that personality profile generally doesn't make it to old age in any kind of happy state.
I live in an old apartment building -- thick masonry walls make for poor reception, so the phone is in airplane mode most of the time.
Otherwise, it eats battery trying to get a signal. Want to call me? Do so on my landline with "2500" phone!
Also, the mic in most phones is directional and awful for picking up sound from a distance. The cameras? They have a nice shot of the ceiling if the phone is laid flat to charge.
IoT junk with mics and cameras, on the other hand, is DESIGNED to listen.
Get a TV without this âoefeatureâ and an antenna. Then get a library card and spend some time learning about all the things available at the public library. Try reading a book that was the basis of a movie you liked - see what you missed. Get a DVD player for 40 bucks and get movies at the library.
For now at least, you donâ(TM)t have to let them fuck you if you are willing to put in a little effort.
My whole family stays connected on one platform - Apple iMessage.
We don't use Facebook, and most of us don't watch TV.
I really doubt we're alone. There's too much to do and TV is a waste of time.
Occasionally we'll fire up Netflix, but there's the iPads and PCs for that.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
There's always "that guy" in every thread about traditional TV, and I guess this time it'll be me. But seriously; how many folks still slave themselves to the device? There are so many better options of consuming even TV based content ( like waiting for it on streaming venues ).
Haven't had traditional cable in over a decade, and I certainly don't miss it.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
The issue isn't ads. The issue is customer data collection (aka privacy theft).
They need demographic data to target ads. They'll know what you're watching, WHEN you're watching. Possibly what is going on in your home via a smart TV's camera.
The media companies will be able to build a detailed profile of when you're home, how long, how much free time you have, etc. Depending on how this is set up, it might be anonymous, but it might also be tied to a name and address.
It's going to be a fake standard that will be illegal for anyone to implement without getting permission (which you do by paying money and signing a contract agreeing to make the software not work very well). Here is the part of the ATSC 3.0 standard about "security".
It's got DRM.
If you aren't pirating yet, then you're going to be supporting this expansion of DRM. You really should be pirating, and even your non-geek friends and family members should be doing it too. Pirate, so that you don't have to pay money for boxes that implement this shit which is intended to break things. Pirates don't have to use shitty hardware or software. It's the easiest thing to do (fewer hassles than paying), and also the best experience by a wide margin.
They'll know what you're watching, WHEN you're watching.
So? Most people see that as a benefit: instead of ads for junk they dont' care about they'll see ads for things they may hold interest in.
Ease up on the tinfoil hattery. Nobody is out to get you. You're going to have a very unhappy life if you insist on obsessive paranoia over common aspects of everyday life such as seeing an ad.
It's gonna happen anyway.
As people figure out that "If I let my smart TV connect to the internet it's going to give me what I don't want" and don't let it connect, the TV manufacturers are going to add cellular modems to their TVs that you can't block with a simple router / firewall that you control.
Cars already do it, plenty of cars with cellular connections built in. Why not TVs? And anything else that has enough electrical input.
It does; minor version number is always zero.
Sounds like its replacement will require each TV to be a connected device.
Not necessarily for cable subscribers. They need to have decoders -- either from the cable company or a third-party, like TiVo -- which can be used to track what you're watching - or, at least, tuned to. In many cases customers also need a SDV controller, so even if you have a third-party device, the cable company can track your tuning habits.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
The only thing I'm interested in when a commercial is displayed is pushing the MUTE button and doing something else for the duration. There are NO ads that are relevant to me.
I've never owned a new house, car, computer, I generally buy household goods based on the ingredient list and what's cheapest on sale.
... the money spent every month on cable subscriptions could buy a lot of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I "cut the cord" 20 years ago, and this is exactly what I've been waiting for all this time to come back! I want ads that give me that same creepy feeling when my boyfriend somehow knows I've been talking to my brother's friends lately. Without that, what's the point of watching?
Sign me up! I can't wait to wait until a specified time that a show "airs" so I can enjoy that wonderful feeling again. Screw streaming, they never stalked me properly anyway.
"What privacy protections will apply to that data, and what security protections?"
None, and none.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
My refrigerator already rats me out every time I get up for a drink
I don't have Facebook. This is why. It's also why I don't have television.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
It was just explained to you. WE DON'T WANT THIS.
Its not JUST viewing the ad its the fact that this is a blatant attack on privacy. AND NO viewing ads they think I might be interested in based upon what I watch and what my demographic is, IS NOT A FEATURE we want.
What's your personal threshold beyond which so much 'sharing' of your personal life is too much? Do you even HAVE a sense of privacy? Or are you an exhibitionist and/or narcissist, and think that you should be sharing every aspect of your life with complete strangers, corporations, and the world-at-large?
Or maybe you're just shilling for companies that make their money selling ads based on personal data 'collected' from people?
Or maybe you're just not smart enough to understand that with every one of these 'innovations' that you accept unquestioningly, you're giving up one more bit of somrething you'll probably NEVER get back.
Would you be okay with cameras and microphones in your house, that watch and listen to you 24/7, sending everything they see and hear to complete strangers, who will sell that data to other strangers, who will do who-knows-what with that information? Do you want corporations, governments, and hackers to listen to you in your house having sex with your wife? Or watching and 'profiling' what your kids do and say?
This goes way, WAY beyond something so trivial as shoving ads in your face. Why it is you can't see that is beyond me -- unless that is, you're actually mentally ill, or you're a paid shill for companies that stand to benefit from this 'technology' -- or you're with some government intelligence agency that would like nothing better that to have complete access to every persons' life 24/7, no warrants required.
Either way -- FUCK OFF. You're completely off base and I find your attitude to be OFFENSIVELY STUPID.
The issue is customer data collection (aka privacy theft).
This. It's nobodys business what I'm watching, and I don't want anyone 'profiling' me for any reason. It's bad enough that I can't be walking around in public without leaving a trail of video surveillance, I'll be damned if I'm going to sit in my own home and be 'monitored' for any reason. It would make me feel like I'm some sort of criminal under house arrest. The only thing that would be worse is having to wear an ankle monitor (..and no, I don't have a smartphone or use social media either, for similar reasons).
Gee, I find your attitude totally disingenuous considering that you're posting as ANONYMOUS COWARD and not logged in using your REAL NAME. What's the matter AC, do you have something to hide from everyone, hmmm?
Taboola Ads Suck Adam Singolda.
ATSC 1.0 works without an Internet connection for two-way communication.
You have an interesting, and wrong, definition of "two".
"....take me to the local daily brainwashing channel....."
I don't get paid enough for my share to contribute to this industry by having to watch those ads, so no TV.
Still working on popups and other nuisances on the web - HEY, where is my cut on this?
I just love it when I pay $25 for a dvd to be treated to 10 minutes of why I wouldn't steal a car so I shouldn't buy dvds and then advertising for all the other crap movies the company made that I don't want to watch. /s
Why doesn't netflix treat me like a criminal when I watch a movie online? (ignoring vpn usage for the comments sake)
As for libraries thats a great tip although you will find most libraries have an online library offering ebooks with a much larger selection.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
It'll be even more fun watching the players exercise their Constitutional First Ammendment right (you know, for those of us who support the Constitution) to take a knee during the national anthem, knowing the whole time it is pissing off Trump and the conservatives.
God, I am so fucking glad that a member of the United States Marine Corps suggested taking a knee, rather than sitting it out. After all, we wouldn't want to offend them, you know.
CAPTCHA: inflame
ATSC 3.0 will be delivered over-the-air, just like 1.0. The difference is the signal is based on "internet protocol" for reasons that make it easy for any device (tablet, phone) to receive the signals. Also, ATSC 3.0 is designed for two-way communication. What is interesting is how they plan on doing this. Turns out there may be plans to have what is called a "Dedicated Return Channel" (DRC), which is a separate frequency that the TV uses to transmit data to the broadcast station. DRC can be read about here: https://www.atsc.org/candidate... If this turns out to be true, it's essentially a "free" over-the-air quasi internet connection controlled and limited by the broadcast station. This is a pretty significant detail.
I'd like to know how they plan to target ads at me when I don't watch.
And when I browse, both mobile and on my PC I use ad blockers. So there.
Corporatism != Free Market
This is the real headline, in my opinion.
What channel is Facebook on? I'll just block it.
WE DON'T WANT THIS
By the caps you seem outraged by the most trivial parts of modern life.
You will be a lot happier in your life and have a longer life if you relax. Don't obsess about trivial things and become bitter. Bitter people don't live as long and suffer much more stress.
unless that is, you're actually mentally ill,
If there's someone who's mentally ill, it seems much more likely to be the person who goes all tinfoil-hat paranoia over the most mundane things like seeing an ad.
Relax man. Let go of the paranoia. You will live longer. Seeing an ad doesn't hurt you.
I just love it when I pay $25 for a dvd to be treated to 10 minutes of why I wouldn't steal a car
Every time I hear this kind of thing it takes a few minutes before I remember that some folks don't use simple tools like mplayer to watch DVDs and subject themselves to the lock-in of a DVD player and mandatory menus and crap.
The only time I see such ads is when I'm trying to find the content tracks, and then only a second or two.
Shut UP, faggot. Go back to 4chan/b/ and post your shitty bait threads there.
"enjoying theater and concerts in real life if this happens"
So you're still supporting them.
You've gone full-baka.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
No, I mean concerts and live theater that are unlikely to be broadcast.
Good old trump!
"Ads May Soon Stalk You on TV Like They Do on Your Facebook Feed"
Ad executives may find I'll be stalking them, just like in that movie "The Purge".
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
In the meantime, no one cares about Netflix, Youtube, and others knowing exactly what your are watching and when ...
Netflix, yes. Youtube doesn't require you to ID yourself -- run it in a private window, don't give Google your credit card info.
Either way, the content of the commercials is irrelevant.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Well sure if your using a computer but if you are using any commercially available DVD/bluray player as the person I replied to suggested it sucks.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
I don't see any ads on TV at all. I record OTA programming with ads stripped out via script, rip my media and strip ads, and do same with content I borrow to watch.
Twinstiq, game news
I cant buy any of their crap, so when the advertisers finds out that I dont have any money, maybe I will be left alone, and I wont be shown any ads at all?
TV?
Oh, you mean that big monitor in my living room for my game consoles and netflix. That does other stuff too?
Cable and satellite companies know what the fuck you're doing with your connection.
Notice that all the boxes say, "Digital."
What the hell did you think that meant?
And, when you use cable and satellite, the Internet is just a thin film away.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
ATSC 3.0 offers better reception and uses modern codecs.
Broadcasters can easily double number of channels and do so with much higher quality with less user effort (installing and positioning antennas) needed for reliable reception.
ATSC 3.0 does not require Internet connectivity to work. At least it is not required by the specification.
There is all kinds of crap ATSC 3.0 is capable of doing that would in my view be really bad:
Worst possible and perhaps most likely scenario is inclusion of "return channel" (DRC) transmitters into television sets turning them into two way bugs.
Followed by encrypted content and related plays at turning OTA into a subscription service or somehow forcing Internet access to get encryption key for data collection/stalking purposes. I personally think the likelihood of this occurring is slim.
Suspect features to push ads over a logically separate channel from the mpeg stream won't ever be used for the simple fact it will be too easy to configure receivers to ignore.
We're talking about over-the-air TV, not paid cable and satellite TV (aka, big waste of $).
Stupid people getting punished for letting the organized crime (Content Mafia) steal their money.
My rule is simple: If all they will give me, is a mere *copy* or the result (information/data) of some of their once-paid contractor's hard work, then all they will get from me, is also a mere *copy* of the result (money) of some of my once-worked-for contractee's hard cash.
And otherwise I will allso call them rapey sea thugs and yell at them how I worked hard for that money! (Deliberately obfuscating that there is a difference between real money that one worked for and a mere copy of that.)
It's only fair.
You want freedom FROM their freedom to harm you / take your freedom!
It's how the Romans defined freedom!
But the neolibcons always mean "freedom from ... your freedom from our harm", when they say " freedom".
You forgot that smartphone of yours, mate!
And yes, even if it is "off". Unless you take out the and wait for any capacitors big enought to fuel radio do drain. ... Oh, wait! You can't!
Yes, ... we need open hardware. Now!
(And I mean he kind that *I* can check! Not just Verilog code. But FPGA circuits that are so repetitive that I can verify one bit and just look at the others to see that they look all the same, to be pretty sure they are good.)
So this does not affect the rest of the world ... welcome to a word where once again we have better TV standards than the USA
Puteulanus fenestra mortis
Then they'd better pay for my internet, we're not going to be setting up WiFi hotspots and switching the TV to the phone of whoever's home at any given time
This also cements internet as a utility
Twinstiq, game news
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I don't think you're following the money very well.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.