File this one under “Completely Terrifying.”
“Is your smart TV listening into – and reporting on – your conversations?”
Taken at face (or screen) value, a smart TV from Samsung is about as good as it gets. As the company proclaims on its website, “TV has never been this smart.” The technology is so smart, in fact, that it’s done away with a remote control. While the remote is still available, the smart TV has a voice recognition feature that allows for truly hands-free viewing.
But there’s one little caveat: When you activate voice recognition, you might just be turning your TV into a surveillance device.
Is your TV spying on you?
Privacy Not Guaranteed
While perusing the “privacy policy” for Samsung’s smart TV, The Daily Beast’s Shane Harris stumbled upon this little gem:
“Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party.”
That’s definitely more than a little scary, but according to experts, this alarming finding likely doesn’t point to Samsung positioning itself as a Big Brother-esque organization. Instead, the transmission of data to a third party will likely function to improve the smart TV’s voice recognition capacity. But even if Samsung’s intention is customer-minded, that doesn’t mean smooth sailing for users who activate voice recognition. After all, it’s unclear which third party is included in the process.
Beyond that, the prospect of conversations in front of your TV being recorded and transmitted should leave most people feeling pretty unsettled. Even if your typical couch banter is not incriminating, is it still the kind of material that you’d want strangers to listen to?
As smart TVs and other connected technologies make their way into the home, it’s best to temper your excitement with a healthy dose of caution.
