The hottest new TV’s are smart TV’s which are expected to take over living rooms all over the world within the next five years. They allow you to stream YouTube and Netflix accounts without adding on an extra external box.
Sales of smart TV’s are soaring, especially in the models of 50 inches and upwards, but how do you feel about your TV watching what you watch, and keeping notes on you?
Electronics Company LG has recently admitted that its smart TV’s are collecting data on the different shows and movies that you watch, so that they can send personalized advertisements to you. However LG says “The Advice we have been given is that when one of our smart TV’s is purchased you accept the terms and conditions on your TV, your concerns would be best directed to the retailer.” LG have admitted that their TV’s are collecting users data but are not offering any advice on how to deal with or solve the problem out of your own safety. Every time a channel is changed information is sent out, the TV’s have an option in the system settings called “Collection of watching info” which is preset ON by default.
We like to think that what we watch on TV in the privacy of our own home is private, but this is really no different than your laptop or smartphone as the smart TV’s are all liked up to the Internet. Google and Yahoo know what you search for and the websites you visit.
The latest game console the Xbox One is also collecting data on gaming fanatics, however the microphone is always turned on and the webcam must be connected for the Xbox to function properly. It can also analyze faces, emotional expressions and even your heartbeat. This is an unpredicted level of corporate data mining and control.
Your TV through the Xbox One is watching you more intensely than you watch it yourself. Through the always on microphone and camera that is so sensitive that it can discern your emotional state in total darkness, your life and anyone else’s who is around the product is being collected and categorized for the explicitly stated purpose of more and more advertising directed specifically at you.
Hollie Donovan 