• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Merged Eric Blair Would be Proud/In Eurasia, Telly Watches You

Gord_in_Toronto

Penultimate Amazing
Gord_in_Toronto
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
26,456
Don't worry folks we promise that Big Brother will not really listen to you. No wait!!

Samsung's warning: Our Smart TVs record your living room chatter

Technically Incorrect: Samsung's small print says that its Smart TV's voice recognition system will not only capture your private conversations, but also pass them onto third parties.
Click to expand...

. . .

"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 through your use of Voice Recognition."
Click to expand...

More at: http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/

Come on trust us. :boggled:
 
Only those with something to hide have something to hide, or something.

Are you afraid that your terrorist plots will be rumbled if you plan them in the comfort of your living room?
 
Reads like clickbait taking advantage of broadly worded policy.

When you perform a voice search on your online TV, your TV sends the data to search third party servers.

Duh?
 
I didn't really read the articles in depth, but I took the problem to be that it is always on and sends everything it hears, which would be different from, say, my phone, which I believe only sends what I say after I give the relevant phrase. I could be wrong, though.
 
So if you have two of these TVs and turn them on to different channels, they'll record each other's speech and report on it? That will confuse the NSA greatly. 'Sir! There's a terror plot at 123 Maple St! Apparently Buffy and Faith are acquiring weapons, and Homer has a sensitive job at a nuclear plant!'
 
TragicMonkey said:
So if you have two of these TVs and turn them on to different channels, they'll record each other's speech and report on it? That will confuse the NSA greatly. 'Sir! There's a terror plot at 123 Maple St! Apparently Buffy and Faith are acquiring weapons, and Homer has a sensitive job at a nuclear plant!'
Click to expand...

And the NSA will really go bonkers if they intercept a episode of "Agents Of Shield"...

Hey, it's just a CYA that the voice system might be overheard in nearby systems...
 
Last edited:
Though I am no fan of this type of technology, the "third party" is likely the company that handles the voice recognition.

From the linked article in the OP:
As for the third parties mentioned in the privacy policy, Samsung explained it to me like this: "Samsung does not retain voice data or sell it to third parties. If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature, voice data is provided to a third party during a requested voice command search. At that time, the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV."
Click to expand...
However, this feature could be hacked by someone else.

Two good friends of mine received fake FBI alerts on their computers which displayed a photo of themselves sitting at their own computer, taken by someone (or malware) that hacked their computer's camera.

The "alert" claimed they would be arrested for piracy unless they paid money - something like $300. If cameras can be hacked, your TV can as well. That's what I would be concerned about.

Both of these people are not very careful when they peruse the internet and I have cleaned malware off their computers before.
 
Last edited:
I've got one of those TV's. We use it for...watching television. When I first hooked it up, it asked if I wanted to connect to the internet. I tried, got the password wrong, and simply haven't bothered since.
 
In capitalist Eurasia, the telly watches you

A new Samsung smart TV's issues warning not to discuss sensitive information in its vicinity as it could be transferred to third parties - apparently it's to do with voice control feature. Samsung are playing the risk down but the notion is somewhat disconcerting nonetheless

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31296188

The policy explains that the TV set will be listening to people in the same room to try to spot when commands or queries are issued via the remote. It goes on to say: "If your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party."

Corynne McSherry, an intellectual property lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which campaigns on digital rights issues, told the Daily Beast that the third party was probably the company providing speech-to-text conversion for Samsung.

She added: "If I were the customer, I might like to know who that third party was, and I'd definitely like to know whether my words were being transmitted in a secure form."
Click to expand...
 
Trebuchet said:
I've got one of those TV's. We use it for...watching television. When I first hooked it up, it asked if I wanted to connect to the internet. I tried, got the password wrong, and simply haven't bothered since.
Click to expand...

Ha. You may not have connected to the Internet but that does not mean the Internet has not connected to you! :eek:
 
Rat said:
I didn't really read the articles in depth, but I took the problem to be that it is always on and sends everything it hears, which would be different from, say, my phone, which I believe only sends what I say after I give the relevant phrase. I could be wrong, though.
Click to expand...

That's what the journalists want you to think. It really only does online searches after you use voice input for search terms.
 
Only criminals like pedophiles, terrorists, drug users and dealers have something to hide. You don't have anything to hide, do you? You aren't a pedophile or terrorist, right?

If anything it should be mandatory to have a Telescreen in every living and bed room so that the crime fighting authorities can be properly alerted to any suspicious and potentially criminal behavior or sayings.
 
Ontario's ex-Privacy Commissioner weighs in:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/s...privacy-intruder-ann-cavoukian-says-1.2950982

Although Samsung sent a statement reminding users that SmartTV's voice-command feature can be deactivated, Cavoukian takes issue with the "listening" mode being a default.

Researchers have found that "80 per cent of the time, people will leave it on the default setting" simply because few consumers would read the fine print to learn whether they should opt out, she says.

"Samsung is saying that if they don't like it, they can disconnect. How absurd. It's so unbelievably outrageous," Cavoukian said.

"People expect to guide channels on TV with their voice. What they don't expect is a stupid device that can potentially capture all their conversations. Really, who would even think that?"
Click to expand...

(Historical Note: When I was finally introduce to Ms. Cavoukian she said, "Oh. I've heard of you!" But would not tell me from whom or where. :eek:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom