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.

Comments

Is this still news?

[Joce640k]

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.

your cable box reports all kinds of info as well

[Joe_Dragon]

your cable box reports all kinds of info as well about what you are viewing.

That's why I use an Amazon Fire Stick

[Oswald McWeany]

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.

Oh, now I get it.

[vrassoc]

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.

Re:Don't see the big deal here.

[Cajun Hell]

If it can suggest to me some shows that I will enjoy and would otherwise have missed, and it doesn't cost me any money, then I'm all for it.

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.