Vizio May Soon Inform Customers When Its Smart TVs Are Spying On Them (theverge.com)

Vizio is reportedly working on a way to let TV owners know when it spies on their viewing habits. According to The Verge, the company is developing a "notice program with direct notification to the class through Vizio Smart TV displays." The Hollywood Reporter first spotted the news. From the report: The news popped up in a request to extend the time needed to submit a motion for a preliminary settlement in a class action lawsuit against the company. So basically, it's possible that Vizio users will get a pop-up notification that explains what the company is doing and when. The TV company already previously settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $2.2 million in 2017, along with the agreement to get users' consent before collecting data. The company was caught in 2015 tracking users' viewing habits and demographic data, which it combined to then sell to analytics and ad companies, thereby allowing them to better target their messaging.

Comments

Never

[dohzer]

I know when mine is spying on me: never. Because I don't have a smart TV.

Re:Never

[Anonymous Coward]

My tv is from 2006.

Plenty of DRM-free analogue connectivity options including the excellent SCART connector, now mostly killed by the multinationals.
No internet connection, no smart tv spying, no abusive apps, no forced updates, no useless curved screen, no 3d fraud, no useless 4k.

And no need to unplug it. Not worth of trust are car, (smart)phone,fridge and other IoT appliances. But my TV appliance I can still trust. The appliance, not what's broadcast into it...

Re: Never

[Anonymous Coward]

You donâ(TM)t need a dumb TV. You need a smart TV with no access to the internet. And this is far, far easier to achieve

Just donâ(TM)t give it your WiFi password. Iâ(TM)m not aware of any smart TVâ(TM)s that will point blank refuse to work without internet access.

Use a dedicated device like an AppleTV or a Roku to do your streaming. And youâ(TM)re done.

Re: Never

[spire3661]

They absolutely can. We use GPU distortion correction to eliminate/reduce chromatic aberration in Virtual Reality sets, not to mention warping the image to fit the lens. The last gen of Nvidia cards came with a feature that allows all kinds of fun display warping effects. For example if you have 3 monitors, you can now adjust the perspective to be correct on each individual panel, allowing for a more immersive experience.

Re:Never

[DaMattster]

I know when mine is spying on me: never. Because I don't have a smart TV.

Yup, I refuse to get a SmartTV as well. And when that is the only kind of TV you can buy, I will just stop watching it altogether.

Re: Never

[NoZart]

At least with samsung, i read somewhere that the TV connects automatically to an open AP if available to sneak out data.

After the "insert ads into kodi/roku movies" and "oh btw our camera in the tv ALWAYS looks" and "don't mention passwords in front of the TV because we might record" bullshit i wouldn't put it above those scummy TV makers to just insert an LTE modem in the TV to enable it phoning home in any case.

The only way to dodge this shit is to buy a public display, but those easily go for 4 times the price with lesser display tech.

Re: Never

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

You need a smart TV with no access to the internet.

With the number of devices that now contain their own communications gear, relying on that strategy seems unwise.

In any case, we tend to do much better when each device we have does one job well and those devices can talk to each other sensibly. Speakers in a TV are useful up to a point, but rarely as good as even entry-level dedicated speakers. Even tuners in a TV are mostly redundant now as the source for almost everything we watch comes via a separate PVR or Blu-Ray player or Chromecast/Fire stick or games console or some other box anyway. And most problems that make my TV and related devices slow, buggy and unreliable today in ways that would have been horrifying a decade or two ago are because someone's box is trying to be too damned clever and they aren't smart enough to make it actually work properly.

GP was basically right. What we need these days is good screens, good speakers, good sources, good connectivity between them, and good control systems to get the content you want from its source to the relevant output devices quickly and easily. There is very little reason except marketing and greed to bundle substandard, short-lived versions of these different elements together and sell self-contained, limited, non-futureproof devices with the technology we now have, but marketing and greed plague this industry.

Re:Never

[jwhyche]

You don't even need a TV these days to watch TV any more. Virtually everything you want to watch can be streamed internet browser. So if you really must watch TV you can just stream it to a window on a monitor.

Fantastic!

[nospam007]

"it's possible that Vizio users will get a pop-up notification "

Another popup to ruin my movie nights besides those from 'Logitech update available' and 'Windows Defender Summary.
Can't wait.

When does it spy on you?

[fox171171]

When does it spy on you? When it is plugged in.

Users may choose to opt out at any time by disconnecting the TV from the power source.

Re:When does it spy on you?

[AlanBDee]

Citation please?

An LED Indicator

[Cmdln Daco]

Perhaps Vizio could design an LED indicator on the front of their products that will light up when their Smart TV is spying on a customer.

It could even be a bi-color LED, that lights up with a certain color when the TV is on and spying on them at a high rate, and lights up with a different color when the TV is off and the level of spying has been slightly reduced.

Re:Trying to patent the power LED, Vizio?

[NoZart]

Soon, that will not be the customers choice anymore. The TVs will come with mandatory LTE modems, some lines in the warranty about how this is this is TVAAS, and if you don't like it, don't buy the TV. You are looking for a set WITHOUT that feature? Yeah we got those, too. only up to 32 inches and in 720p, though.

Here's a better idea: DON'T SPY ON PEOPLE!

[Rick Schumann]

How about you remove all ability of so-called 'smart TVs' to spy on anyone, ever, for any reason, you assholes?