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How Smart TVs in Millions of US Homes Track More Than What's on Tonight (nytimes.com)
The growing concern over online data and user privacy has been focused on tech giants like Facebook and devices like smartphones. But people's data is also increasingly being vacuumed right out of their living rooms via their televisions, sometimes without their knowledge. From a report: In recent years, data companies have harnessed new technology to immediately identify what people are watching on internet-connected TVs, then using that information to send targeted advertisements to other devices in their homes. Marketers, forever hungry to get their products in front of the people most likely to buy them, have eagerly embraced such practices. But the companies watching what people watch have also faced scrutiny from regulators and privacy advocates over how transparent they are being with users.
Samba TV is one of the bigger companies that track viewer information to make personalized show recommendations. The company said it collected viewing data from 13.5 million smart TVs in the United States, and it has raised $40 million in venture funding from investors including Time Warner, the cable operator Liberty Global and the billionaire Mark Cuban. Samba TV has struck deals with roughly a dozen TV brands -- including Sony, Sharp, TCL and Philips -- to place its software on certain sets. When people set up their TVs, a screen urges them to enable a service called Samba Interactive TV, saying it recommends shows and provides special offers "by cleverly recognizing onscreen content." But the screen, which contains the enable button, does not detail how much information Samba TV collects to make those recommendations.... Once enabled, Samba TV can track nearly everything that appears on the TV on a second-by-second basis, essentially reading pixels to identify network shows and ads, as well as programs on Netflix and HBO and even video games played on the TV.
Samba TV is one of the bigger companies that track viewer information to make personalized show recommendations. The company said it collected viewing data from 13.5 million smart TVs in the United States, and it has raised $40 million in venture funding from investors including Time Warner, the cable operator Liberty Global and the billionaire Mark Cuban. Samba TV has struck deals with roughly a dozen TV brands -- including Sony, Sharp, TCL and Philips -- to place its software on certain sets. When people set up their TVs, a screen urges them to enable a service called Samba Interactive TV, saying it recommends shows and provides special offers "by cleverly recognizing onscreen content." But the screen, which contains the enable button, does not detail how much information Samba TV collects to make those recommendations.... Once enabled, Samba TV can track nearly everything that appears on the TV on a second-by-second basis, essentially reading pixels to identify network shows and ads, as well as programs on Netflix and HBO and even video games played on the TV.
How many times do we need to repeat this story?
1) X is put into person's home/pocket.
2) X asks for your email address and phone number then starts to track every movement and button press.
3) People act all surprised!
Film at 11.
No sig today...
your cable box reports all kinds of info as well about what you are viewing.
How many times do we need to repeat this story?
One more time as always.
Smart TVs tracking you and invading your privacy!
That's scandalous... that's why I only use an Amazon Firestick and control it with my Amazon Alexa. This way I can't be tracked. Nothing I do will be uploaded!
I'll make a post to Facebook recommending all my followers there to do the same.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
So that explains the ads I see after having left our house in the care of a house sitter for two weeks. Man, I knew that last guy was a freak.
That's the spirit! It's nice to finally see that some people are team players instead of looking for darkness in everything.
Now please finish entering your masturbation log (the period of July 1 - 5 appears to be incomplete). We need this data so that our algorithms can most accurately forecast when it will be the best time to show another porn ad. And you know the drill: it's free to have it scheduled for you, and a mere $0.23 to instead scheduled it to appear in the feed for that special someone.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
Have you tried buying an unsmart TV in the US recently? Moreover, even if you have a home router and have access and know how to set up its routing tables, how do you know what IP address(es) your new 56 inch Spycoware TV is using?
I look at the DHCP reservations and figure out its MAC, then block that. I have yet to hear of one of these devices doing MAC randomization.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I concur. The last TV I bought had no non-smart models in that price and size range. So I bought a "smart" one, and hooked it up to power and two HDMI cables. One to the cable box, and one to the streaming/media computer. (An Asus Chromebox running Ubuntu with extra memory and storage.) Given that most "smart" TVs still require you to type shit by arrowing around with the remote, I can't imaging even trying to use it as such. So much easier to have a desktop browser with wireless keyboard and mouse.
It's irritating that the TV needs to boot up and think for 4-5 seconds before it responds to remote commands, but other than that it's pretty much a dumb TV. I'm unclear why the GP has gone down the specific rabbit hole he has.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
You can get reasonably big (65 is easy) dumb 4k tvs. Just not in a name brand.
But good news, the panels are all the same.
Once I realized that all the dumb TVs were the same, I was left with no viable choice, took the small financial risk. It's not bad, as good as any IPS screen, which isn't a surprise as the screen likely came off the same line.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
No, that's correct. July 1-5 is one entry.
Cheap storage VM.