Vizio Smart TVs Track Viewers

[13Gigatons]

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

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CBS Sacramento) — When choosing a smart television, buyers are often presented with a variety of features. One they may not be aware of: that TV could be watching you.
Vizio Smart TVs, one of the most popular manufacturers, can track your viewing tendencies and report them to advertisers, as reported by ProPublica.
The feature, “Smart Interactivity,” is already turned on as a default setting for millions of people who have purchased the device. Viewers are able to turn off the setting, that is, if they know it even exists.
“Non-personal identifiable information may be shared with select partners… to permit these companies to make, for example, better-informed decisions regarding content production, programming and advertising,” Vizio said in a statement.
Vizio seems to be taking a new approach by tracking viewers by default, while competitors like San Jose-based Samsung or LG Electronics leave it to customers to turn the setting on. Vizio’s sharing with advertisers also reportedly lets them target devices like your phone, which other companies do not.
Smart Interactivity analyzes watching habits of viewers including content, time, and channel. The patterns are connected to the viewer’s IP address, which can be used to identify other devices in the home.

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.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Why am I not surprised at all?

 

[highland145]

“Non-personal identifiable information may be shared with select partners… to permit these companies to make, for example, better-informed decisions regarding content production, programming and advertising,”

So the tv will realize that every time obummer's face comes on, i turn the channel so eventually he'll never show up on my tv. Awesome. N41

 

[PottedMeat]

1. analyze packets & generate new tv serial numbers
2a. DDOS destination for lulz
or
2b. poisons packets with made up data for lulz
3.???
4. no profit

 

[Ken g6]

Which is another reason why, instead of a smart TV, you should get a dumb TV and an HTPC.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Which is another reason why, instead of a smart TV, you should get a dumb TV and an HTPC.

The problem is every decent tv for years is smart. The TVs that aren't smart are 60hz LED edge lit garbage.

 

[purbeast0]

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

 

[MarkXIX]

Why haven't many of these organizations learned that if they're just up front and give people the option from the get go that they might get better results and fewer lawsuits?

 

[Anubis]

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.

sure you can, don't connect your TV to the internet -

 

[Anubis]

The problem is every decent tv for years is smart. The TVs that aren't smart are 60hz LED edge lit garbage.

you DO NOT HAVE TO CONNECT YOUR TV TO THE INTERNET!

smart or not,

 

[TwiceOver]

Yeah I wish manufacturers would get out of the "smart" business. Most of their interfaces suck and do you honestly think they are going to support whatever programs they have on there for the life of the TV? Not a chance, zero. Give me a dumb monitor and I'll attach my device of choice. Save me a few dollars and shit can your dev team and save some money there.

 

[Genx87]

Did people really believe they wouldnt track what you are doing for marketing purposes? Next I am sure you will be surprised when your DVR phones home to let them know what you are recording. Or visiting websites will track what you are searching for and deliver ads based on google searches.

 

[nakedfrog]

First thing I normally do when I hook up a new TV is go into the settings anyway...

 

[purbeast0]

most people have cable boxes hooked up via hdmi to their smart tvs anyways. the tv will have no clue what channel you are tuned into, all they know is that a signal is coming in.

 

[TwiceOver]

most people have cable boxes hooked up via hdmi to their smart tvs anyways. the tv will have no clue what channel you are tuned into, all they know is that a signal is coming in.

I thought that too, but I guess the HDMI spec does send some information over CEC that can identify the station and other viewing information. Not that I know 100% about it, but I thought the same thing and was schooled on it in another thread.

 

[Subyman]

My 6 year old plasma still looks great.

 

[poofyhairguy]

you DO NOT HAVE TO CONNECT YOUR TV TO THE INTERNET!

smart or not,

True, but then I would just have to buy some other device and connect that to the internet so my wife can watch Netflix. You have to pick your poison.

Internet tracking is a given nowadays. Consoles do it, Windows 10 does it, Android does it, it is a fact of life. You think that Netflix doesn't know exactly how many people watch what and when?

The real issue people have with Smart TVs is the software doesn't get updated after a while, but it is kinda the same way with the boxes. We are up to Roku....4? now. The only real boxes that get full updates are consoles.

 

[blurredvision]

I can't believe they want to track me?!?!?! I'm posting about this on Facebook immediately...

 

[CPA]

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

Well, duh, it's because Google is cool and has driverless cars and they care...or some crap like that.

 

[CPA]

My 6 year old plasma still looks great.

Mine too, and it heats up the room in the winter!

 

[SunnyD]

most people have cable boxes hooked up via hdmi to their smart tvs anyways. the tv will have no clue what channel you are tuned into, all they know is that a signal is coming in.

So instead you let your cable box do the tracking. :thumbsup:

 

[zinfamous]

I don't care so much about the data collection as I do the random ads that pop up from time to time, based on some ad that I am not watching, and the system (Samsung) refused to save my settings when I turn it off. This pisses me the hell off.

The fact that they force advertising as part of their "SMART feature" which, let's be honest, isn't a damn feature when countless devices do this anyway, makes me unhappy. There is no option in setup to not agree to tracking. You can't even set up the TV without Smart Hub if I recall correctly. So, either agree to all of their terms to use the basic function of the TV, or stare at a setup screen forever.

 

[Bacstar]

There is supposed to be an option to "opt-out". It was reported on ArsTechnica. I just bought a new Vizio 4k tv, but I haven't bothered to find it yet. The only regular TV I watch nowadays is SyFy, History channel, and hockey, so I'm not concerned much. I also have my Tivo going through my Xbone, so I'm not sure if that makes any difference... I'm pretty boring and uninteresting, so I'm not worried much. If someone wants to steal my identity, feel free.

 

[Subyman]

Mine too, and it heats up the room in the winter!

Yup a bonus. Seems like my friends are going through LCDs every few years, while mine keeps going strong (and looks better.)

 

[darkswordsman17]

http://arstechnica.com/security/201...on-vizio-tvs-coughs-up-owners-viewing-habits/

And there's another problem. They don't do jack shit to try and secure anything which makes everything "smart" to be a really stupid idea.

And what happens when they start putting cellular modems in these things, it'll be impossible to stop them from reporting short of making a faraday cage (which I could see someone coming up with like a vinyl wrap mesh that you could wrap around things to block stuff like that for relatively cheap).