Your TV Might Be Watching You

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slashfan7964
So my dad was watching some YouTube video the other day and they were talking about this. Apparently new model smart TVs could possibly have a camera embedded in it to record your sound and body language in the privacy of your own home "for marketing purposes". They claim that its to make your viewing experience more pleasurable and for marketing research as well as other things. Apparently, with this technology it can "learn who you are" and air specific commercials at the right moments to peak your interest and hope you invest in their product. They even went over lines in the owners manuals that pretty much say that this is happening, word for word. TV makers will not advertise this as its meant to be hidden.

However, there is the concern of invasion of your privacy and the concern of "what if that's not all they are using it for". Basically, don't do anything in front of your TV you don't want the world to see since they are storing it in the database.

With these new smart TVs, its possible that some of this information isn't going where you think it's supposed to be going. It's possible it's being streamed to the government. They might know you better than you know yourselves. And you know what that means....


So what do you guys think about this? I wish I could find this video he was watching.
 
And yet, there will be thousands that fall for this. :indiff:
 
I heard the same thing being touted by folks against the Xbox Connect. Nothing anywhere near the allegations has come close. I doubt it will with Smart TVs, either.
 
prisonermonkeys
And if it is connected, it won't be much of a match for some electrical tape ...
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Don't forget to put tape over the microphone, as well. :D

It's not a farfetched idea that Smart TVs, just like any network device, could possibly have their cameras and mics turned on without the user's consent (indeed, we know it's possible with Smartphones, already). The problem is, this would require a consumer to consciously link up the TV to the internet, in the first place.

And why would they need hidden cameras? Smart TVs with motion-control already have the cameras front and center.
 
Aaah yes. Privacy.;)
This can be true, or is absolutely ridiculous.
Don't take it too serious what i wrote here.

Stop buying smartphones, they have 2 camera's these days and options to track voice and data.
Stop buying laptops with webcams.
Don't buy smartwatches.
Don't buy tablets with camera's
Don't buy a car with gps.
Don't go to the dentist.
Don't go near city's with cctv.
Don't go outside, Satelite's can film you.
Don't use your bankcards or credit cards.
Your privacy invasion started when you parents registered your name when you were born.
It is part of our lives, you can accept it or drive yourself mad.:cool:

But with this, people need to think twice when they want to sit naked in front of the Teevee.:eek:
 
This kind of thing always gets me.

Yes the TV may record your body language and 'invade' your privacy.

But so what? If you have nothing to worry about what does it matter?
Even if your TV is telling the government you like to sit bollock naked whilst watching adult channels on a monday night, what are they going to do about it? Send you blow up doll leaflets?
 
Do people really worry about this stuff?

There are so many ways that we're being monitored and tracked in the modern world that it's not even funny. Unless you're slaughtering orphans in front of your television, I don't see any reason to be more concerned about your TV watching you than, say, having your movements tracked and conversations recorded by your cellphone. Which is totally possible, the thing has GPS, a microphone and a data connection. It's basically a little spying brick, and yet very few people get their tin foil hats out about cellphones (even when we KNOW that certain amounts of data are recorded about us, check your app permissions if you want to see).

If you care about being spied on, it's fairly trivial to avoid or disable these things. If you want a fun game, play "spot the security camera" next time you go out. They're freaking everywhere.
 
It'll all turn out fine once someone admits to, in front of their telly, murdering someone and it leading to a conviction. Spying solves crimes, m'kay?

Not to say that I'm fine with any hidden cameras in my televisions, but we've already gone way past the point where the toothpaste cannot go back into the tube in terms of being watched and tracked day to day. There are things which have been in use for years, never mind what is being introduced and tapped now.
 
Slash
And yet, there will be thousands that fall for this. :indiff:
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Don't some people already have Kinect? The tech to see who stays in the room while certain adverts are on is already there and fitted to the main media device, just needs the software.

Maybe it's already running :D
 
1984-LG-84-inch.jpg

Someone had to.
 
SVT Cobra GT
It's quite ironic that this thread will be monitored by governments too.
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I hate the NSA and whichever one of them is reading this can kiss my ass.

Now that that's got their attention, let's kill the President... ...softly with our songs.
No but seriously, it's time to bomb... ...ard the public with pro-net neutrality information.
And overthrow the government... ...of this banana republic RPG I'm playing.
 
Slash
*** Apparently new model smart TVs could possibly have a camera embedded in it to record your sound and body language in the privacy of your own home "for marketing purposes". They claim that its to make your viewing experience more pleasurable and for marketing research as well as other things***
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Will these Smart TV's have a FIND button that we can use???

I can't seem to find the TV remote, and I could use a little help with the search of my livingroom and checking under the sofa's seat-cushions.:dopey::D

GTsail
 
There was a incident recently where some Smart TV's were found to be secretly 'phoning home' information to the manufacturer about usage habits without the consent or knowledge of the owner.

If people can hack your webcam and mic on a laptop to be on without you even knowing then it's only a matter of time till they can do the same with TV's seeing as they already run on stuff like Linux.

On a side note the Bang & Olufsen TV's watch you because the screen follows you wherever you choose to sit... eerie :lol:
 
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Robin.
There was a incident recently where some Smart TV's were found to be secretly 'phoning home' information to the manufacturer about usage habits without the consent or knowledge of the owner.

If people can hack your webcam and mic on a laptop to be on without you even knowing then it's only a matter of time till they can do the same with TV's seeing as they already run on stuff like Linux.

On a side note the Bang & Olufsen TV's watch you because the screen follows you wherever you choose to sit... eerie :lol:
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Your first sentence is what I was basically getting at. If they can do that without your consent, god only knows what else they can do or where your information is going.
 
I got an 💡

Maybe we could use our smart tv to spy on others. I mean, make it possible to use their smart tv camera to look in their living room. :mischievous:
 
kikie
I got an 💡

Maybe we could use our smart tv to spy on others. I mean, make it possible to use their smart tv camera to look in their living room. :mischievous:
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Robins/Lower Merrion, a school unlawfully activated the cams on loaner laptops in students' bedrooms. As I said a few posts ago, the tech is already there. This isn't a new threat, the devices just change.
 
If anyone is spying on me I hope they brought sanitizer.


Seriously though, I have issues with secretive recording. Google admits to what they gather and it is their business model. It isn't a secret. People are just too ignorant. Social Media is people voluntarily putting it out there.

But secretly watching and reporting is an entirely different situation. The "nothing to hide" argument holds no water. In fact, any argument used by Nazi propaganda should be a huge red flag to everyone. When it comes to governments secretly watching you and invading your privacy you need to be worried, even if you never do anything wrong. This argument was being used even as the government was trying to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr, Muhammed Ali, and even some sitting senators. Current systems have already been shown to be abused by staff members spying on love interests. And those are all government entities where very specific rules and laws are in place and the employees were put through training. Now, take Joe Schmoe tech guy working for Samsung or whoever and you have less accountability, less training, and a higher risk for abuse.

If you tell me it is there and I still buy it, then that is on me. The moment you sneak it in there and don't tell me then you have violated my trust.

It is disturbing to me that people argue that we are always being spied on so it is OK. No, it isn't. Always being spied on is the ultimate problem. A camera secretly watching you in your TV, phone, computer, or whatnot is a symptom of a much bigger issue.
 
Good post.

The element of deception is the key. Tell people "Yeah, there's a camera in there we use to track your info for 'marketing' and stuff" then it's a level playing field. You still want to buy it? More power to you. I'd rather a telly/computer/microwave without surveillance equipment built in.
 
On the one hand, I don't give a hoot about someone gathering information about me for marketing purposes. Don't care if someone knows what websites I'm visiting or what flicks I'm watching. Thing is, it's not stopping there. Or there's no guarantee at least. On the other hand, as liberal as I might be about some of the information those companies could be interested in, there are still things that I want to be friggin' private!

The thought of some random tech guy spying on my GF when we're having some quality time makes me wanna puke, for example. Oh well, you can put your phones/laptops where they can't record crap, build your PCs yourselves so you know what's in there and keep your TV offline. So there's that, at least.
 

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