BRAVE NEW WORLD NO-CONSENT TRACKING: Your Television Viewing Habits Are Now Targets For Hackers and Intelligence Agencies

First the generalized summary statement: It's not really possible for consumers to opt-out of data collection and monetization (of their data) at the scale it's now occurring.

It's also worth remembering that your smart TV is just one in a long line of systems collecting and monetizing your data, including the streaming hardware you're using (Roku, etc.), your ISP, any additional internet of things devices you've connected to your network, and even your energy company. While folks intent on downplaying modern privacy abuses often like to pretend this is the age of consumer empowerment, it's not really possible for consumers to "opt out" of data collection and monetization at the scale it's now occurring. Even with a lot of elbow grease, technical innovation, and external help.

Organizations like Consumer Reports have been pushing hard for improved efforts to warn consumers about potential privacy abuses at the point of sale, including them in product reviews and even on product packaging. And while their "open source" efforts on this front are really interesting, we're a long way away from this kind of transparency being the norm.

Smart TV Makers Will Soon Make More Money Off Your Viewing Habits Than The TV Itself

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the what-could-possibly-go-wrong dept

Mon, May 17th 2021 4:13am — Karl Bode 

"Smart" televisions have long been the poster child for the abysmal privacy and security standards inherent in the "internet of things" space. Such televisions have been routinely found to have the security and privacy standards of damp cardboard, making the data they collect delicious targets for hackers and intelligence agencies alike.

At the same time these companies have failed repeatedly to secure (or sometimes even encrypt) consumer data, their data collection revenue is positively exploding. Vizio, for example, recently noted that it made $38.4 million in one quarter just from tracking and monetizing consumer viewing and usage data. It made $48.2 million on hardware (both TVs, soundbars, and other products) in that same period, and that gap (if not already closed) is quickly closing: . .

Consumers do have a bit of control. They can disable a set's WiFi features entirely, even though in many instances doing so can disable core set functionality in obnoxious and unforeseen ways. Ideally I'd love to be able to buy a "dumb" TV that's just a great display with HDMI ports and no "smart" internals, but because consumer data is now so profitable, most TV vendors no longer even sell such an option.