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FCC Approves Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 TV Standard (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the new-and-improved dept.

New submitter mikeebbbd writes: "U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the use of new technology that will improve picture quality on mobile phones, tablets and television, but also raises significant privacy concerns by giving advertisers dramatically more data about viewing habits," reports Reuters. ATSC3.0 will apparently make personal data collection and targeted ads possible. New TVs will be necessary, and broadcasters will need to transmit both ATSC 2.0 (the current standard) for 3 to 5 years before turning off the older system. For now, the conversion is voluntary. There appears to be no requirement (as there was when ATSC 2.0 came out) for low-cost adapter boxes to make older TVs work; once a channel goes ATSC 3.0-only, your old TV will not display it any more.

5 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Goodbye TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    " make personal data collection and targeted ads possible."

    You can go F yourself right there and then.

  2. gee wizz by Rainwulf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder who the real beneficiaries of this policy really are...

  3. Just great. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFA:

    The new standard would also let broadcasters activate a TV set that is turned off to send emergency alerts.

    One step to closer to the world of Max Headroom where TVs are required to be on all the time ("off" switches are banned) and the country is run by an oligarchy of television networks - enabled by their butt-boy FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

    Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan said the new technology “contemplates targeted advertisements that would be ‘relevant to you and what you actually might want to see.’

    Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the new technology would force consumers to buy new televisions. “The FCC calls this approach market driven. That’s right — because we will all be forced into the market for new television sets or devices.”

    Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc last month called the new standard “the Holy Grail” for the advertiser because it tells them who is watching and where.

    I'm too annoyed to even comment on these, but I'm not buying a new TV so I can be more easily spied on.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Just great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The writers of Max Headroom read that idea in the telescreens of Orwell's 1984. Only members of the Inner Party were allowed to have off switches.

  4. Re:Internet Connected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Since no TV set will ever have my wifi password, this sounds like a potentially good thing.

    ...unless they require every television to have an internet connection.