Submitted via IRC for AnonymousCoward
Smart TVs are data-collecting machines, new study shows
Add smart TVs to the growing list of home appliances guilty of surveilling people's movements. 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."
Of course, data is part of the reason TVs have gotten so cheap. Today, Roku's sell for less than $200, subsidized in part by targeted advertising. Technically, people agree to have their data sold when they set up their devices. But many aren't aware it's even happening.
Technically, people agree to have their data sold when they set up their devices
That's true for other smart home technology, too. In a different study, researchers at Northeastern University looked at 81 smart home devices and found that some, including Amazon's Ring doorbell and Alexa, and the Zmodo doorbell, monitor when a user talks or moves, even when they're not using the device. "The app used to set up the [Ring] 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," the paper says.
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:51AM (14 children)
Nobody watches tv unless you are 60+.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:56AM (2 children)
Those are the same people who answer polls. There is zero chance you would ever get me to answer a poll.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:09AM (1 child)
Are you:
1. Never going to answer a poll
2. Highly unlikely to answer a poll
3. Somewhat unlikely to answer a poll
4. Somewhat likely to answer a poll
5. Highly likely to answer a poll
6. Mad that you read this post
?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:10AM
Submit as a Soylent Poll immediately.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:04AM (5 children)
Smart TVs have YouTube and other streaming apps, in addition to traditional channels for old people. A TV these days is basically a wall sized Android device.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:07AM (4 children)
And lots of people own them. I figured out they are data gathering machines 10 years ago. When I learned my TV from 2009 was sending every click back to homebase. *creepy* ass fucks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:12AM (1 child)
Exactly why I don't own a TV and pirate everything through a VPN instead.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:22AM
Exactly why I yanked it from the network and still enjoy my 60 inch TV and spine melting stereo system.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:22AM
Use a Kodi/LibreELEC box. Problem solved. Add a VPN if noided.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:40AM
I wonder if it sends back to them how many times I respond to obnoxious ads by going channel surfing or just abandoning the whole thing.
Give station ad pricers some metrics on what it really costs to run that ultra boring 5 minute face powder ad in terms of abandoned connections.
But then, I have no intentions of ever buying a smart TV. I hardly ever watch my old one. It's like trying to eat an old carp. Bony and very time consuming.
Squeezing in yet more station and sponsor stuff just pushes the already too low benefit to reward ratio even lower.
Television air time isn't worth much if the station owners have few viewers.
So, I am here, posting, instead of watching TV.
Pleasing the customer is a deep subject, I know, not in the scope of the business training I have seen lately.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:14AM (1 child)
Let me help you out here....
If you use a device such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV
Do you somehow think that is limited to only devices that plug into a TV?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:28AM
Amazon Fire Stick plugged into an Amazon Fire TV. Yo dawg.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:31PM
I believe they consider any "moving pictures" to be TV when it comes to privacy violations. That means youtube, pornhub, autoplaying ads, etc...
The people not watching "TV" are generally the ones being tracked the most, you know. They generate so much more data due to these newfangled technologies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:40PM
I don't watch TV, but I use one 4K as monitor. I hope the fucker doesn't spy on me through some cellular network.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 15 2019, @06:36PM
Except for the Olympics. I bring out the rabbit ears, so we can get whatever local broadcasts of the Olympics we can get.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday October 15 2019, @03:16AM (1 child)
Any hard data on the Google Chromecast?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:24AM
They've got tons.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 15 2019, @03:56AM (11 children)
We need a uBlock for TVs. Or disable all network access and just hook your Pi up the HDMI port?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:20AM (8 children)
Perhaps a Pi Hole [pi-hole.net] or other platform running a DNSBL [wikipedia.org] (perhaps on your pfSense [wikipedia.org] box?).
Then again, that's the *real* reason Google et. al are moving to DNS-over-https [wikipedia.org], to try to kill DNBLs. Gotta resolve those ad-serving domain names, and you can't have some local DNS server refuse to resolve those domains, now can we?
Of course, that will all go away when (perhaps they already exist?) cellular radios are *soldered* to the motherboards of every device, so you can't stop them from phoning home even if you don't connect them to your network.
Oh frabjous day! :(
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:35AM (1 child)
I wonder how hard it would be to clone the cellular details to a phone for free phone service. You could put it into a small box. A blue one, for historical reasons.
Just as a hypothetical of course, it probably breaks some law, and I would never advocate that. ;) ;)
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @03:23PM
I don't think that would be difficult at all.
More relevant I think is that someone has to pay for all that service, and as long as 90% of people are just letting the TV use their wifi, it's probably not a great investment to equip them all with radios that cost far more to buy, complicate regulatory approval, work differently in different countries, cost money every time they send data, and are generally a pain for the manufacturer.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:51AM (5 children)
Run your own local Stingray... for privacy.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:21AM (2 children)
Apparently, they were only ~US$1,4000 four years ago [arstechnica.com].
Probably ~$500 or less now.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @06:17PM (1 child)
Commas, will be misplaced
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday October 15 2019, @06:49PM
Sorry. I would have responded sooner but I was helping Uncle, Jack off his horse.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 4, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:27AM
Or, apparently, just download SigintOS [sigintos.com].
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday October 15 2019, @07:04AM
What you search for personal use is called Femtocell [wikipedia.org].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:24AM
You can do blocking at the router level, or a device attached to the router (such as a Pi).
Or just a Pi with LibreELEC connected to the TV. Or another SBC, a laptop, a small form factor HTPC, or a retired desktop. There are many options. Not much performance is needed, although newer devices will have VP9/H.265 hardware decoding.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:12PM
More correct:
demux the channels, see what they are collecting and sue them. And if not successful shove the TV up the manufacturers CEO's ass with a candle on it.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday October 15 2019, @10:13AM
So, let me get this straight, items that are the actual embodiment of 1984's telescreen collect data? Stop the presses!
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday October 15 2019, @03:07PM (3 children)
Sooooo...
1 - Buy subsidised TV at low low price.
2 - Connect it to network, agree to all the EULAs etc and get it working.
3 - Once it's working, pull the network cable / change your Wifi router's password, so the damn thing can't get online.
4 - Enjoy your Big Dumb Cheap TV, advert- and spy- free.
Or is the thing evil enough to stop functioning as a dumb TV if it can't phone home?
(Score: 2) by everdred on Thursday October 17 2019, @04:36PM (2 children)
I literally do this. Mine doesn't require network access to start working out-of-the-box, but I'll occasionally download firmware updates by first factory resetting it (to wipe whatever data it's been collecting), applying the update, then factory resetting it again to make it forget my wifi info.
I guess I'm trusting that the factory reset actually resets everything. Another concern would be that a future firmware update could change the TV's willingness to perpetually work without a network connection, but so far so good.
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday October 18 2019, @10:30AM (1 child)
Makes sense.
If the thing is working well enough, and never goes online, I personally wouldn't even bother with the firmware updates.
(Score: 2) by everdred on Tuesday October 22 2019, @04:27PM
Yeah, my attitude is basically the same... though I'm hoping a firmware update improves the performance of the "local dimming" feature. It's a higher-end feature on a cheaper TV, so I'm not holding my breath.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:33PM
sheesh! use a real TRACKER already: https://openbittorrent.com/ [openbittorrent.com]
it will grow hair on your cheast -xor- give you silky smooth skin! and added bonus: no more cellulitis!