Big Brother is Always Watching Your Television
We acquired a flat-screen TV several years ago when one of our grandsons offered us his 40-inch Television free of charge.
Turns out it had been sitting in the corner of his living room after he purchased a friend’s 50-inch model. Then in the midst of a move, the friend didn’t want to drag the behemoth on the road.
“We’ll take it on one condition,” I said.
“What’s that?” our grandson asked.
“That you set it up.”
I’m no longer embarrassed by my lack of technical skills. After all, that’s why God made grandchildren.
Since we acquired our newer model, several friends have asked whether we have a smart TV.
“I’m not sure,” I tell them. “But I think I’m too dumb for a smart TV.”
History proves me out. The time displayed on one menu screen is wrong one-third of the year. That’s because I don’t know how to change it when we switch from daylight savings back to standard time.
I consider it easier to make a mental adjustment than try to figure out how to tinker with the settings. Besides, I always wonder if there is a high-tech spy watching me fiddle with the controls.
High-Tech Snooping
A recent article in Malwarebytes’ weekly newsletter bolstered my case of maintaining a healthy skepticism toward modern technology.
The story told of Samsung settling a lawsuit with the Texas attorney general’s office. The issue concerned how its smart TVs collect and monetize viewing data using Automated Content Recognition (ACR).
Among other things, Samsung agreed to stop collecting ACR data from Texans without explicit, informed consent, and to rewrite its on-screen privacy prompts and dialogues.
The state’s attorney general also sued other makers like Sony, Hisense, and LG for the mass surveillance programs that monitor what people watch and build profiles used for advertising and monetization.
In other words, turning your habits into personal gold mines for the manufacturers.
Until seeing this story, I had never heard of ACR. It takes samples—a few seconds at a time—of the sound or picture and turns them into a kind of digital fingerprint.
Then it compares that to a huge database of shows, movies, channels, and ads to find a “match.” If it finds one, the system knows about the viewer’s habits, all the better to tailor advertising or promotional pitches to the individual.
Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, called this “watchware.” In his lawsuit, he argued that customers did not give meaningful consent to this data collection.
Losing the Battle
Texas isn’t the only state concerned about this high-tech spying. Earlier this year five New York residents filed a class action lawsuit against Samsung for the same reasons Paxon cited. Namely, that the company was tracking, storing, and selling viewing data of Samsung TV owners without their knowledge or consent.
Where this all goes is anyone’s guess. But in my estimation, the fight to prevent corporate giants from snooping into our personal habits ended a long time ago.
Spoiler alert: We average folks lost the battle.
No matter what we’re doing or where we go on our phone, laptop, Firestick, et. al., someone is foisting cookies on us, recording our every move, and preparing personalized marketing pitches.
What to do? In its story, Malwarebytes offered disabling tips for ACR settings for Samsung, LG, and several other TV brands. (I’d probably struggle to figure out how to change the relevant settings.)
In the meantime, I will do the only thing I could when Amazon Prime started foisting ads on us during what used to be free programming: reach for the mute button.
