You watch TV. Your TV watches back.
By Geoffrey A. Fowler
Technology columnist
September 18 at 8:00 AM
Wrapped in a Snuggie, I like to binge on reruns of “The Golden Girls” all by myself. Except I’m not really alone.
Once every few minutes, my TV beams out a report about what’s on my screen to Samsung, the company that made it. Chances are, your TV is watching you, too, through a few nosy pixels on the screen.
Ever wondered why TV sets are getting so cheap? Manufacturing efficiency plays a role. But to paraphrase James Carville, it’s the data, stupid. TVs have joined the ranks of websites, apps and credit cards in the lucrative business of harvesting and sharing your information. Americans spend an average of 3½ hours in front of a TV each day, according to eMarketer. Your TV records may not contain sensitive search queries or financial data, but that history is a window to your interests, personality, joys and embarrassments.
And they’re grabbing it because, legally speaking, tens of millions of us gave our permission.
Lately I’ve been on the hunt for what happens to my data behind the cloak of computer code and privacy policies. So I ran an experiment on my own Internet-connected Samsung, as well as new “smart TV” models from four of the best-selling brands: Samsung, TCL Roku TV, Vizio and LG.
I set up each smart TV as most people do: by tapping “OK” with the remote to each on-screen prompt. Then using software from Princeton University called the IoT Inspector, I watched how each model transmitted data. Lots went flying from streaming apps and their advertising partners. But even when I switched to a live broadcast signal, I could see each TV sending out reports as often as once per second.
Many TV makers say tracking what we watch helps them provide helpful personalized recommendations. Right, and people read Playboy for the articles. TV tracking is mostly about filling in a missing chunk of data about our lives for advertisers and media companies. I tracked down some of the firms that buy it from TV makers. They told me it makes TVs more like Facebook, where content can be measured and ads can be better targeted and tracked for performance.
And just as on Facebook, things can turn creepy. Data firms use your TV history to link up what you watch with what you do on your phone, tablet and laptop — even what you buy in stores. It’s as if your TV can unhook itself from the wall and follow you around.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/18/you-watch-tv-your-tv-watches-back/?wpisrc=al_technology__alert-tech--alert-national&wpmk=1
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