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Privacy Television Advertising Software Technology

Smart TVs Are Data-Collecting Machines, New Study Shows (theverge.com) 41

Posted by BeauHD from the can't-act-like-I'm-surprised dept.
A new study from Princeton University shows internet-connected TVs, which allow people to stream Netflix and Hulu, are loaded with data-hungry trackers. "If you use a device such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV, there are numerous companies that can build up a fairly comprehensive picture of what you're watching," Arvind Narayanan, associate professor of computer science at Princeton, wrote in an email to The Verge. "There's very little oversight or awareness of their practices, including where that data is being sold." From the report: To understand how much surveillance is taking place on smart TVs, Narayanan and his co-author Hooman Mohajeri Moghaddam built a bot that automatically installed thousands of channels on their Roku and Amazon Fire TVs. It then mimicked human behavior by browsing and watching videos. As soon as it ran into an ad, it would track what data was being collected behind the scenes. Some of the information, like device type, city, and state, is hardly unique to one user. But other data, like the device serial number, Wi-Fi network, and advertising ID, could be used to pinpoint an individual. "This gives them a more complete picture of who you are," said Moghaddam. He noted that some channels even sent unencrypted email addresses and video titles to the trackers.

In total, the study found trackers on 69 percent of Roku channels and 89 percent of Amazon Fire channels. "Some of these are well known, such as Google, while many others are relatively obscure companies that most of us have never heard of," Narayanan said. Google's ad service DoubleClick was found on 97 percent of Roku channels. "Like other publishers, smart TV app developers can use Google's ad services to show ads against their content, and we've helped design industry guidelines for this that enable a privacy-safe experience for users," a Google spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Verge. "Depending on the user's preferences, the developer may share data with Google that's similar to data used for ads in mobile apps or on the web." "Better privacy controls would certainly help, but they are ultimately band-aids," Narayanan said. "The business model of targeted advertising on TVs is incompatible with privacy, and we need to confront that reality. To maximize revenue, platforms based on ad targeting will likely turn to data mining and algorithmic personalization/persuasion to keep people glued to the screen as long as possible."

Another study from Northeastern University and the Imperial College of London found that other smart-home devices are also collecting reams of data that is being sent to third parties like advertisers and major tech companies.
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Smart TVs Are Data-Collecting Machines, New Study Shows More

Smart TVs Are Data-Collecting Machines, New Study Shows

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  • From the Captain Obvious department (Score:5, Informative)

    by YukariHirai ( 2674609 ) on Friday October 11, 2019 @06:34PM (#59298020)
    Yeah, no shit. We've been saying ever since they started being a thing that "smart TVs" are privacy nightmares.
    • Of all the Privacy issues, some company knowing what shows I'm watching is about as far from a Nightmare as things get. Oh, and your cable box does the same thing, so does any streaming app on your phone, along with any and all forms of digital delivery. Well, I guess except for open air antenna and in some cases satellite. Bug fucking deal.

      • Of all the Privacy issues, some company knowing what shows I'm watching is about as far from a Nightmare as things get.

        Does your employer know you watch fixed news? They can fire you for your political beliefs with no recourse.

    • Yeah, no shit. We've been saying ever since they started being a thing that "smart TVs" are privacy nightmares.

      Data collection on smart TVs and streaming boxes is to track what people watch. How is this different from the old Nielsen diaries, except that you can no longer lie about all the times you were supposedly watching PBS?

    • I'm not worried.
      At home there is a tight corner in the living room. I can place a small table and a chair there, outside the field of view of the TV.
      The only time when I must be in front of the screen is during the morning exercise routine....

  • Old news is old (Score:3)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Friday October 11, 2019 @06:37PM (#59298028) Journal
    Also you all should know this by now and you're a fool if you buy these devices.
  • "The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched

  • Permissive sharing (Score:3)

    by fred911 ( 83970 ) on Friday October 11, 2019 @06:41PM (#59298036) Journal

    ''Google's ad service DoubleClick was found on 97 percent of Roku channels.''

    Glad to see they're so effective. At least users can opt out of their sharing of metrics. OTOH, users that don't want to share any data are free to install software blocking connections to non-vital resources.

    Joe Sixpack OTOH, is just as free to watch cheaply, receive targeted ads and enhance is profile for marketability. We all have choices.

  • It's a display! Why does it contain a computer? Or a receiver. Or anything else?

    There are more and more devices, that technically contain computers, but practically, are single purpose gadgets. Which would be OK, if they were merely used as controllers. E.g. to display a video signal from an actual computer.
    But they have to have their own "smart" shit. Of couse with a shitty mobile/embedded cripple OS, the manufacturer having root instead of the *owner*, and spyware, malware, drmware, adware, etc.

    Why aren't

    • Since they say "Roku" it's unclear if they mean Roku TVs or standalone Roku boxes. If it's the Roku apps themselves then this would apply even if you have a dumb TV. It would be good for someone to keep a list of what apps to avoid because of tracking. (you can put on 89 apps onto the Roku but probably only ever use 2 or 3 in practice)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      Because data is money, and a tv with a computer is "cheaper" than a tv without a computer.
      We need to regulate data collection immediately.

    • Because not everyone has, wants or needs a computer or phone with which to comfortably watch streaming video.

      Thus a smart tv can allow them to stream video easily at fairly low cost.

      That said, my 65" 4K tv is dumb and plugged into a win10HTPC, Xbone S and Fetch TV settop box with 1TB of HD, via a 5.1 receiver. It is what works for me, for others there are other options. Everthing is via ethernet.

  • The FA doesn’t say over the scary click-baity but I presume that includes all streaming devices as well? (AppleTV, Roku, FireTV, Xbox, PS4, etc)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hondo77 ( 324058 )
      From Apple's Privacy Policy [apple.com]:

      We also collect data in a form that does not, on its own, permit direct association with any specific individual. We may collect, use, transfer, and disclose non-personal information for any purpose. The following are some examples of non-personal information that we collect and how we may use it:
      ...

      • We may collect information regarding customer activities on our website, iCloud services, our iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, App Store for Apple TV and iBooks Stores and f

  • I might not hate this (Score:3)

    by steveha ( 103154 ) on Friday October 11, 2019 @06:56PM (#59298068) Homepage

    I wish someone had been tracking me back when Firefly was on TV and I was watching it.

    It seems that the shows with good ratings are mostly terrible. I might not mind being tracked while I watch my shows, if it meant that watching the show was voting for more of that show being made.

    However, I haven't watched TV in years. My wife and I both watch streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and YouTube... and I just assume we are being tracked 18 different ways on each of those services.

    There's a lot of ways I could be tracked that I do not want and which would upset me. But which shows I watch? I'm just not that outraged.

    • I agree. If they are going to spend a lot of time and money to study what I watch, I'm hoping it's so they can provide more of the same type of shows. I can't think of any nefarious purpose they might otherwise have.

      • "He watches lots of news shows of the political persuasion the Chinese would not like."

        "Well, then it's a good thing the Chinese just purchased the company that own the data archives, because they need to prevent social unrest."

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tsa ( 15680 )

          And what are the Chinese going to do to NeoMorphy now they have this data?

          • Not NeoMorphy in particular. Everybody in particular. If you don't know what that means, I concede, there isn't much to do.

  • I took my tv off my network about 2 weeks in (Score:3)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Friday October 11, 2019 @07:01PM (#59298080)
    I knew they were harvesting data, but what killed it for me was the sheer amount of advertising they were injecting. Pretty much everything I did on my TV showed me ads.

    Sad, as there is a lot of value to having a smart TV. But if your gonna show me an ad every time I change inputs then, well, fuck you not so gently with a chainsaw.

    Don't buy a Samsung TV unless you're ok with tons of ads and who knows how much data harvesting.

  • Your STB tracks you, Netflix tracks you, YouTube tracks you, etc. ANYTIME you are streaming you are being tracked. The "justification" is so that potential (network) issues can be found.

    The problem is that you CAN'T opt. OUT of it.

    We've been saying this for literally for *years.*

    Why is this news???

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vyvepe ( 809573 )
      Get an STB with open firmware. There will not be any tracking. And if you would find some then you can uninstall it.

    • Your STB tracks you, Netflix tracks you, YouTube tracks you, etc. ANYTIME you are streaming you are being tracked. The "justification" is so that potential (network) issues can be found.

      The problem is that you CAN'T opt. OUT of it.

      I've already been shot once... what difference does a second, third or fourth bullet hole make?

  • I got a great data-subsidized 4K Roku TV for $150 that makes for an awesome monitor.
    I never connected it to my network.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vyvepe ( 809573 )
      Mod parent up. Many TV can work well as monitors and they are often cheaper than big 4K monitors.

  • Captain Obvious could not be reached for comment on this story, as he was busy announcing that water is wet.

  • A thing you can call it of knowing how the costumer likes to use his tv, other is you hacking the entire habit a house holds, since the beginning of watch a news daily journal, to end the day on a tv show.

  • Kodi (Score:2)

    by sad_ ( 7868 )

    Again, shows the importance of OSS projects like KODI in todays world.

    • In recent days every one is tracking you, so you can void and access roku, hulu or kodi [mrkodi.com] on your streaming devices using vpn to put yourself on radar.

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