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Privacy Television Businesses

Smart TVs, Smart-Home Devices Found To Be Leaking Sensitive User Data, Researchers Find (nbcnews.com) 66

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Smart-home devices, such as televisions and streaming boxes, are collecting reams of data -- including sensitive information such as device locations -- that is then being sent to third parties like advertisers and major tech companies, researchers said Tuesday. From a report: As the findings show, even as privacy concerns have become a part of the discussion around consumer technology, new devices are adding to the hidden and often convoluted industry around data collection and monetization. A team of researchers from Northeastern University and the Imperial College of London found that a variety of internet-connected devices collected and distributed data to outside companies, including smart TV and TV streaming devices from Roku and Amazon -- even if a consumer did not interact with those companies. "Nearly all TV devices in our testbeds contacts Netflix even though we never configured any TV with a Netflix account," the Northeastern and Imperial College researchers wrote. The researchers tested a total of 81 devices in the U.S. and U.K. in an effort to gain a broad idea of how much data is collected by smart-home devices, and where that data goes.
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Smart TVs, Smart-Home Devices Found To Be Leaking Sensitive User Data, Researchers Find More

Smart TVs, Smart-Home Devices Found To Be Leaking Sensitive User Data, Researchers Find

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  • Not the right word (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cellocgw ( 617879 ) <cellocgw.gmail@com> on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:07PM (#59208828) Journal

    I wouldn't call it a "leak," since the exodus of data is quite deliberate. How about "siphoned off by gluttinous evildoers"

    • exfiltrated

      • exfiltrated

        "Exfiltrated, with extreme prejudice." -- Colonel Kurtz

        How about a title of:

        Smart TVs, Smart-Home Devices Found To Be Eavesdropping on Sensitive User Data, Researchers Find

        • exfiltrated

          "Exfiltrated, with extreme prejudice." -- Colonel Kurtz

          Just because one guy exfiltrates with extreme prejudice doesn't mean everyone has to. Some people can exfiltrate softly.

      • Came here to say exactly that. You beat me to it. This is a feature, not a bug.

    • Re:Not the right word (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:19PM (#59208918)

      I would call this a "leak" as much as I would call robbing a bank "leaking" money. This is a deliberate exfilteration of data.

      IMHO, the best thing to do with a smart TV is not to connect it to any network. Want Netflix? There are plenty of appliances which will do this. If the TV refuses to work because it can't get an Internet connection, put it back in the box and return it, because it fails to perform its main task. Some brands of smart TVs will just outright refuse to display a picture unless they are given Net access. Others will wait a bit, then demand access for a "firmware update", and remove functionality... which is mainly done so the TV stays around past the return window.

      You can't get as large screen real estate, but for some tasks, monitors and digital sign displays work quite well as TVs... and won't "leak" any info.

      • IMHO, the best thing to do with a smart TV is not to connect it to any network. Want Netflix? There are plenty of appliances which will do this.

        I agree but perhaps you could elaborate on what display(tv) someone can buy that aren't "smart".
        From what I had read the consensus is to connect it a device to get things like NF, allow it onto wifi, but block it from getting out.

        Also, I imagine some of these smart tvs will attempt to automatically connect to any open wifi they can see, just so they can phone home.

        • Buy an HDMI-only monitor with speakers. Add an external tuner/DVR box if you need DTV reception.

      • ome brands of smart TVs will just outright refuse to display a picture unless they are given Net access. Others will wait a bit, then demand access for a "firmware update", and remove functionality... which is mainly done so the TV stays around past the return window.

        Can you list the brands/models that do this?

        I Know a lot of them want access, but I've yet to see one that won't work without allowing it to have access.

    • Its intentional.

      The CEO of Visio said so himself. (paraphrased) "if we manufactured dumb TVs we would have to increase the price signifcantly to offset the money we get by selling the data from them."

      • So if I happen to buy a Visio TV just because it happens to be the cheapest one that meets my needs at the time. And I never allow it to connect to the internet, you are suggesting that sale would be a financial loss for the company. I can get behind that. Where I work they actually open up the TVs and remove the wireless radios. I guess I could do that if there is a concern that it would report back using any open WiFi it can find.

      • The CEO of Visio said so himself.

        Satya really gets around.

    • How about "organized theft?"
  • Is this really a surprise to anyone?

  • 2 easy steps (Score:4, Informative)

    by Vermonter ( 2683811 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:10PM (#59208860)

    1: Remove all network access to your TV
    2: Run an HDMI cable from your compute to your TV

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 )

      Problem is that some brands of smart TVs will not bother to display a HDMI signal unless they have some form of Internet access. Others will work for a bit, then will stop and demand Internet access for a "firmware upgrade".

      • can you let it 'update' then yank access afterwards?
        suggestions on brands to buy to avoid this bullshit?

        • can you let it 'update' then yank access afterwards?
          suggestions on brands to buy to avoid this bullshit?

          Yeah... but when it "updates" all it actually does is batch up all the data it's collected and send it out.

        • When you give it access to "update" it, it will then send the data out that it accumulated while it didn't have access.

          • When you give it access to "update" it, it will then send the data out that it accumulated while it didn't have access.

            Most will let you install updates via USB. This capability is common among major manufacturers... Sony, Samsung, LG...etc. Something people should look into before purchasing.

        • Most (of the few I have) will allow update via USB. Not my loser vizeo though, it doesn't even let you choose to update via any menu option. You have to leave it connected and be surprised when it announces an update. I gave one vizeo away and the other I use only as a monitor. NOT buying another vizeo.

      • Re:2 easy steps (Score:4, Informative)

        by Retired ICS ( 6159680 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:49PM (#59209054)

        This is a defective TV and should be returned.

        • You mean "should be broken to bits then the bits stuffed down the raw gullet of the CEO of the company that made it."
      • Can you please back that statement with proof? Thanks!
      • You have made this claim twice in this thread without evidence. You have any proof? You have any model #s or manufacturers names that actually do this? I have never heard of, or witnessed this kind of behavior, and without evidence, it just seems like the kind of sorta-maybe-plausible shit people make up to sound smart.

        • My "smart" TV does not behave in this way. It has never had an internet connection, unless they bundled a cellular modem in it and paid for a subscription without telling me.

          And my Intel NUC running Kubuntu most likely doesn't spy on me either. It does do a good job displaying web content on the TV over HDMI, however.

      • some brands of smart TVs will not bother to display a HDMI signal

        Name names, don't just say "some brands." Who ripped you off?

      • If or when you need to give the smart tv an internet connection, can't you just run the connection through a VPN with location set to the other (opposite) end of the country? Then disconnect from internet when done.

      • Problem is that some brands of smart TVs will not bother to display a HDMI signal unless they have some form of Internet access. Others will work for a bit, then will stop and demand Internet access for a "firmware upgrade".

        Name the names, or STFU

        Seriously. Tells us which brands are doing what you say, so we may shun them.

        (I frankly don't care, I have a dumb-ass Panasonic projector on a 7-ft screen and am perfectly happy with its brilliant, colorful dumbness.)

        Even so I'd like to know which brands are being that underhanded. You're the second poster I can remember making the same claim. Name the manufacturers!

      • Which brands? Do you know or is this simply conjecture on your part? Seriously, list a few.
    • For me it’s not that easy. My Smart TV is 4K but all of my older streaming boxes are not 4K. In order to access 4K content, I could get a new box. Instead I put the TV on a guest subnet that has no access to the rest of my network.

  • Leaking? (Score:3)

    by reanjr ( 588767 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:17PM (#59208904) Homepage

    "Leaking" is an odd choice of wording. A leak is an unintentional spillover. This is completely by design. It's not a leak, it's a pipeline from your living room to their ears.

  • Shock, horror, ZZZzzzzzzz. . .

    Sorry what were we talking about? Oh yeah, smart devices are only smart for the manufacturer, not the consumer.

  • Customer agreed to it? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:23PM (#59208928)

    Somewhere on the box, website or when the TV was first turned on there was a statement stating this was going to happen.

    Good luck finding an easy way to opt out.

    • If you bought it in store, then such things were not disclosed readily beforehand I'd argue - and such things (terms being revealed after purchase), IF I recall at least, have been addressed before.

      • You are correct. Conditions of Sale must appear in writing on the Conditional Sales Contract. If they do not appear, then they are null and void.

  • How are we defining "leaked". Is a third party (i.e. not those intended by the devices maker) accessing these devices? If not, then the devices are working as designed and this is Fake News.

    • Yes of course, it's "fake news"

      The fact that a majority of device owners had no idea or were not properly informed that this information would even be collected let alone sold off and distributed to anyone with a couple dollars.

      totally fake.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by flippy ( 62353 )
        It's nothing more than another click-bait headline from the /. editors. You'll notice that nowhere in the article does it use the word "leak", but that's sexier and it'll get more clicks than without it.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by ubrgeek ( 679399 )
          In the headline: "Smart TVs, smart-home devices found to be leaking sensitive user data, researchers find" - Emphasis added

  • Which brands and models? (Score:3)

    by MSTCrow5429 ( 642744 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @12:43PM (#59209026)

    More helpful to know what to avoid, if we can find any to not avoid, than sow panic in an article.

    • It would be quicker to list the brands that don't "leak" the data.

    • To avoid them is to buy a monitor at many thousands of dollars.

      • To avoid them is to buy a monitor at many thousands of dollars.

        You know this is the realization I have come to.
        Which sucks because I need to upgrade my main display.

        I still can't believe there isn't a list of tvs(now they are all "smart/evil") that are easier to block than others, etc;
        You would think there would be some blog or consumer reports that would go into detail about this.

      • Or just buy a used TV from 2012 or so on Craigslist, before smart cuntcrap really became a thing.
  • ... What a SURPRISE?! That's why I won't buy those kind of products.
  • vindicates my position to not allow Smart TVs in my home.
  • Come on, Slashdot, are you just posting re-runs again?
    We already knew this at least a couple years ago. Furthermore: it's no 'accident', they're purpose-built to collect data, even to the point of listening in on you and watching you, if it's got a microphone and camera.

    Stop buying so-called 'smart' products that don't need to be 'smart'!
    You don't need a so-called 'smart TV' in the first place. It serves no useful purpose for you.

    • I completely agree but where are non-smart TV's sold?

      • You'll have to look harder for them, and you won't get a ginormous 9000" non-smart TV. In some cases the best you'll be able to do is just ensure that your nosy, spying 'smart TV' is never able to connect to the internet, ever.

  • Like what kind of data your smart refrigerator, smart stove, smart washer/dryer are sharing, and who are they sharing the data with.

    I'm pretty sure there are smart toilets, and leakage there could be a real problem.

    • I'm pretty sure there are smart toilets, and leakage there could be a real problem.

      Yea but at least you know for sure it's just shit that they're getting.

  • Seems like a law suit would be in order here - invading privacy w/o permission. Click thru or Shrink Wrap TOS agreement? Really? No I didn't read it, its a TV, I just plugged it in like every tv I purchased since 1970 and I DID NOT GIVE PERMISSION to "smell my underwear". Does an argument like this have any chance today?

    • Yes. Conditions of Sale must be in writing and form part of the written contract of Sale otherwise they are a nullity.

  • Ring doorbell. We observed that the Ring doorbell performs a video recording action every time a user moves in front of it. However, this is unexpected behavior: the app used to set up the device does not warn the user that the doorbell performs such recording in real time, the doorbell offers no indication that recording is occurring, and the only disclosure is in fine print as part of the privacy policy https://shop.ring.com/pages/privacy/ [ring.com]. Upon discovering this barely documented feature, we logged into o

    • Zmodo doorbell. The Zmodo doorbell uploads camera snapshots when the device is first turned on, and also when anyone moves in front of the device. This feature is undocumented, and we were unable to prevent such snapshots from being taken, nor we were able to access them.

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