Vizio Smart TVs Track Viewers

[John Connor]

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015...ers-watching-habits-to-work-with-advertisers/



Can't even watch TV in peace. :\

Pretty soon sofa tracking will become a thing and you will have to pay a higher premium if you sit for too long.

TiVo and other boxes have been doing this forever, man.

Also, the option is there to turn this off.

 

[bradly1101]

yet everyone here uses google a bajillion times a day and doesn't care about all the info they keep on you.

I use Firefox's private browsing. Do you think I want just anyone knowing I hang around here? I might become the target for ads for megaphones.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

If you just let people opt into your tv-watching spy ware you'll get way more people.

 

[bradly1101]

True, but how many people know their vehicle is keeping tabs on them (and no, it cannot be defeated or disabled)..Event data recorder..

1984 didn't happen until about 2000. 2001 won't happen for a while.

 

[Dude111]

TiVo and other boxes have been doing this forever, man.

Also, the option is there to turn this off.

You really think they will let ya disable it bud??

I doubt it!!

 

[Red Squirrel]

You really think they will let ya disable it bud??

I doubt it!!

Yeah look at windows 10 LOL. The best is the fact that MS even ADMITTED after a while that when you disable it it does not actually do anything.

Now they want to release a "patch" with an option to REALLY disable it. Suuuuuuuure.

We really need governments that work for the people and not the corporations, so this kind of crap can be illegal. The right to privacy should actually be part of the charter of rights.

 

[lxskllr]

We really need governments that work for the people and not the corporations, so this kind of crap can be illegal. The right to privacy should actually be part of the charter of rights.

The same governments that want access to data? Laws are seldom the answer. Every time someone says "There should be a law...", they should be kicked in the balls, and sent home to reconsider. The correct answer is to use software that works for the user, and/or can be modified to work for the user. Windows' misbehavior shouldn't be illegal, but obsolete.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The same governments that want access to data? Laws are seldom the answer. Every time someone says "There should be a law...", they should be kicked in the balls, and sent home to reconsider. The correct answer is to use software that works for the user, and/or can be modified to work for the user. Windows' misbehavior shouldn't be illegal, but obsolete.

That's why I'm saying the government should actually be for the people. Scrap the whole thing, start over. The problem is it's inevitable that even the new one turns evil too. But there needs to be a whole revamp of the entire system to ensure it does not happen. not really sure what the ultimate answer would be though.

But yeah at this point even the charter and laws don't not really matter. Governments don't follow it.

 

[holden j caufield]

Yeah look at windows 10 LOL. The best is the fact that MS even ADMITTED after a while that when you disable it it does not actually do anything.

Now they want to release a "patch" with an option to REALLY disable it. Suuuuuuuure.

We really need governments that work for the people and not the corporations, so this kind of crap can be illegal. The right to privacy should actually be part of the charter of rights.

Is windows 8.1 sending back the same data that 10 is?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Is windows 8.1 sending back the same data that 10 is?

Probably. So is 7. There are updates that they pushed recently. I think it's just the thing of deleting them, but honestly I would not trust it any more.

 

[allisolm]

Also, the option is there to turn this off.

You really think they will let ya disable it bud??

I doubt it!!

I have a Vizio smart TV. The Smart Interactivity function is turned off. And yet, when I get a Walmart ad, it has a section that shows the address of and prices at the Walmart store closest to my house. So, somebody is getting some info somehow, and using it to push their commercial stuff to me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would imagine this kind of spy stuff is using it's own wireless based communication. Maybe GSM or satellite short wave or something. Would be interesting if someone used a spectrum analyser near one of these TVs. And test other products too. heck, what about toasters and stuff? For all we know they have mics and stuff. It's almost at a point where we need to start taking stuff apart to inspect for spy circuitry before we use it. I imagine these things are rather well hidden though. A mic can be made to look like a capacitor, an antenna coil can be made to look like an inductor, etc.

I wonder at what point it will come where the only way to get privacy is to literally make your own stuff from scratch. But then the spy companies/governments will just start putting the spy stuff right in discrete components like micro controllers. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

 

[sdifox]

Run your own firewall and block it, problem solved.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Run your own firewall and block it, problem solved.

Any kind of wireless communication that it would use would be outside of your own network so you can't firewall it. If it was that simple you would just need to not plug it in at all.

 

[sdifox]

Any kind of wireless communication that it would use would be outside of your own network so you can't firewall it. If it was that simple you would just need to not plug it in at all.

They don't have cell link yet. Doubt they can afford to pay greedy cell operators for a constant link :awe:

 

[IGemini]

I have a Vizio smart TV. The Smart Interactivity function is turned off. And yet, when I get a Walmart ad, it has a section that shows the address of and prices at the Walmart store closest to my house. So, somebody is getting some info somehow, and using it to push their commercial stuff to me.

I also have a Vizio Smart TV with interactivity off but don't ever recall seeing targeted ads, at least none that couldn't be explained by info scrubbed from elsewhere. Under what circumstances are you seeing the ads?

 

[allisolm]

I also have a Vizio Smart TV with interactivity off but don't ever recall seeing targeted ads, at least none that couldn't be explained by info scrubbed from elsewhere. Under what circumstances are you seeing the ads?

Under the Walmart-shows-an-ad-for-something circumstances. I pay as little attention to ads as possible, but have noticed the specific address of the local store and prices of items there on my screen during the TV ad.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Time to tin foil the back of the TVs?

 

[IGemini]

Under the Walmart-shows-an-ad-for-something circumstances. I pay as little attention to ads as possible, but have noticed the specific address of the local store and prices of items there on my screen during the TV ad.

...

More like I was thinking the ads were showing up when using a certain app? Maybe it's pulling location info on a connected account? Youtube/Google comes to mind, with how much they collect that stuff.

Whatever. Was just trying to help.

 

[Jeff7]

Under the Walmart-shows-an-ad-for-something circumstances. I pay as little attention to ads as possible, but have noticed the specific address of the local store and prices of items there on my screen during the TV ad.

If I go to Google Maps, it (usually) knows roughly where I am based on where the IP address is located. They're likely using a similar technique.
Certain networks can mess around with that, but it usually seems to work well enough.
(Example: The college I went to routed all the network traffic through main campus, so websites thought I was >100 miles from where I actually was.)

 

[allisolm]

If I go to Google Maps, it (usually) knows roughly where I am based on where the IP address is located. They're likely using a similar technique.
Certain networks can mess around with that, but it usually seems to work well enough.
(Example: The college I went to routed all the network traffic through main campus, so websites thought I was >100 miles from where I actually was.)

So how is Walmart getting the IP address of my TV?

 

[Bacstar]

Now this is really getting crazy: Ultra-high frequency sounds from TV can trigger tracking cookies on cellphones and tablets.

http://hardocp.com/news/2015/11/14/..._to_link_your_phone_tv_tablet_pc#.Vkomh7Xlu70

 

[Dude111]

Yup I read that on dslreports earlier......

They are taking advantage of digital sound to do that..... (The extreme high tones)

 

[Jeff7]

So how is Walmart getting the IP address of my TV?

They, or a third-party advertiser that Walmart is paying, may have simply asked your device for its location.

Now this is really getting crazy: Ultra-high frequency sounds from TV can trigger tracking cookies on cellphones and tablets.

http://hardocp.com/news/2015/11/14/..._to_link_your_phone_tv_tablet_pc#.Vkomh7Xlu70

Great, the devices are conspiring against us, right under our noses.

When they do, browser cookies can now pair a single user to multiple devices and keep track of what TV commercials the person sees, how long the person watches the ads, and whether the person acts on the ads by doing a Web search or buying a product.

That's an advertiser's dampest of wet dreams.

- If the person isn't actually watching a commercial played during streaming content, pause the ad until the victim has met their quota.

- Bonus version: A high-res camera in something like a future Kinect with eye-tracking technology. You looked in the direction of the screen, but were you watching the ad? Which parts of it were interesting? Did you pay adequate attention to product placement during the show?

 

[Jeff7]

double post