The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Topic started by: rangerrebew on July 06, 2018, 01:33:37 pm
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How smart TVs in millions of U.S. homes track more than what's on tonight
Posted 9:37 p.m. Wednesday
Updated 8:57 a.m. yesterday
By Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times
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.
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.
https://www.wral.com/how-smart-tvs-in-millions-of-u-s-homes-track-more-than-what-s-on-tonight/17675939/ (https://www.wral.com/how-smart-tvs-in-millions-of-u-s-homes-track-more-than-what-s-on-tonight/17675939/)
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I noticed mine was sucking up a lot of bandwidth. Probably nothing nefarious, but it is no longer able to access the internet.
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My TV and remote has no speaker. My computer has no speaker. The only way they can record me is through my cell phone. And lord knows they want to. Can't count the number of times the Google Voice thing has popped up telling me to, "Say Something". I have voice activation disabled but of course on a phone, I can't disable the microphone. I just have to be careful what I say when my phone is within earshot and not in my pocket. If I had a purse like a lady, that would be ideal. I would keep it there all the time until it is needed.