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Netflix Mocks Christmas Film Viewing Habits in "Creepy" Tweet

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday December 13 2017, @04:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the 1984-people-watched-'1984'-yesterday dept.

takyon writes:

Netflix tweeted that 53 people had watched its new Christmas film every day for 18 days in a row, highlighting its ability to track the viewing habits of its users:

Netflix has defended a tweet that revealed 53 people had watched its new Christmas film every day for 18 days in a row. "Who hurt you?" read the tweet, addressed to them.

The tweet caused controversy, with some saying it was "creepy" of the platform to keep such close tabs on its audience, and mock their choices. However, others found it entertaining - and unsurprising that Netflix should know what its customers were viewing.

In a statement, Netflix said the privacy of its members was important. "This information represents overall viewing trends, not the personal viewing information of specific, identified individuals," said a representative.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:06PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:06PM (#609271)

    Isn't there one since Robert Bork's rental records were exposed in the 1980s?

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Booga1 on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:11PM

    by Booga1 (6333) on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:11PM (#609275)

    We can't let that stand in the way of datamining all that sweet customer, er consumer, habit information!

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by EvilSS on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:50PM (3 children)

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 13 2017, @05:50PM (#609291)
    Yes but it wouldn't really apply here since they didn't release enough info to identify any individual users. Nothing in the act prevents keeping internal records, it's the disclosure outside the business that the act covers.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday December 13 2017, @10:00PM (2 children)

      by frojack (1554) on Wednesday December 13 2017, @10:00PM (#609419) Journal

      Aren't they obligated to keep some records, to pay royalties?

      And isn't it likely that those royalties have an "out" for re-views by the same account, like a dvd rental would?

      This thing is the penultimate tweenage girl flick, and they will watch something like this over and over just to cover the conversation they are having on the phone or facebook at the time.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:51AM

        by Arik (4543) on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:51AM (#609535) Journal
        "penultimate"

        I don't think that means what you think that means.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

      • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:55PM

        by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 14 2017, @01:55PM (#609679)

        How do you account for streaming content licensing?

        We generally license content for a fixed fee and a defined time period with payment terms varying by agreement.

        The signing of a license agreement to obtain future titles creates a streaming content obligation which we include in our Contractual Obligations footnote disclosure in our 10Q's and 10K's. If the minimum obligations are quantifiable, the amounts are included in the tabular disclosure. For deals with unknown future output, the obligation is added in the table when the title and its cost become known.

        Once a title is made available for us to use on our service, a Content Liability (current for the portion due within one year and non-current for the portion beyond one year) and a Content Library asset are recorded (current for the portion to be amortized within one year and non-current for the portion beyond one year) on the Balance Sheet.

        We also produce some content. For productions, we capitalize the costs, including development cost and direct costs. These amounts are included in "Non-current content library, net" in our balance sheet.

        For certain content where we expect more upfront viewing, due to the additional merchandising and marketing efforts, the amortization is on an accelerated basis.

        from https://ir.netflix.com/faq.cfm#Question31141 [netflix.com]