Submitted by What did Vizio know about what was going on in the privacy of consumers’ homes? On a second-by-second basis, Vizio collected a selection of pixels on the screen that it matched to a database of TV, movie, and commercial content. What’s more, Vizio identified viewing data from cable or broadband service providers, set-top boxes, streaming devices, DVD players, and over-the-air broadcasts. Add it all up and Vizio captured as many as 100 billion data points each day from millions of TVs.
Vizio then turned that mountain of data into cash by selling consumers’ viewing histories to advertisers and others. And let’s be clear: We’re not talking about summary information about national viewing trends. According to the complaint, Vizio got personal. The company provided consumers’ IP addresses to data aggregators, who then matched the address with an individual consumer or household. Vizio’s contracts with third parties prohibited the re-identification of consumers and households by name, but allowed a host of other personal details – for example, sex, age, income, marital status, household size, education, and home ownership. And Vizio permitted these companies to track and target its consumers across devices.
That’s… That’s a lot of very creepy spying.
I’ll never buy a Vizio TV
and I’ll be telling friends not to for this reason
vizio – if you’re reading this.. you screwed up big-time
Is it even possible to buy a modern “dumb” TV these days? I mean a dumb TV with modern features like 4K and HDR, but without all the other “smart” stuff. I don’t even want to connect it to the internet. I know some of you will suggest simply not connecting a smart TV to the internet, effectively turning it into a dumb TV, but I’m pretty certain most brands will constantly have the OS prompt you to go online.
Edited 2017-02-07 23:12 UTC
Don’t connect it? Personally, I prefer monitors, don’t go so big but much more consistent panel quality, without image processing, and as long as you don’t go too cheap, much easier to calibrate.
You probably replied before I edited my initial post, mentioning how many modern smart sets annoy you with prompts to connect the thing to your network. My only purpose for said TV would be console gaming with a PS4 Pro.
Wouldn’t an HDCP-capable monitor do the trick? (HDMI in, plug PC speakers into the audio breakout jack on the back)
Edited 2017-02-08 00:21 UTC
The problem with a monitor for me would be;
a) HDR capable ones are still relatively new (many just announced at CES last month) and I’m unsure if the HDR “standard” for TVs and Playstations is the same one used for PC monitors and the graphics cards that’ll drive them.
b) A monitor would have to sit on my work desk (might as well work as a second display for my laptop while at it, right?) but I’m not keen on gaming on my work chair, and more importantly, there’s currently this big empty space in my loft where the old TV used to be, which is sorta wierding me out.
I don’t see how picking a display without a TV tuner magically makes it something you can’t put in the loft.
Conversely, we’ve got an old dumb HDTV here and it’s got a couple of HDMI inputs and a VGA input, despite being a TV.
Are you making the (incorrect) assumption that only TVs are offered in “large format”?
Edited 2017-02-09 00:59 UTC
I just got a Sony new smart TV, 4K, HDR and everything. It came with two remotes, one “traditional” and one with Netflix and Google Now buttons. The last one is the smart remote.
I didn’t connect it to the Internet. Skipping the connection was easy, just a no-click. It does not nag, *at all*, unless you specifically select something that needs connection, like Google Now.
Sony absolutely gets it, or they do at the moment. The lure of real-time accurate customer information is just too great for many companies to resist.
“Know your customer”, the first rule of selling.
Good to know. Mind sharing the name/model type? The part of your post I bolded seems to be crucial, so I might as well dive in now while there are still models like this, before everyone gets into the whole voyuer thing and make every future model part of a spybotnet.
Hmm, my Sony TV tells that even if I disagree with the policy and do not allow it to send usage information, then something is transmitted anyway. My model is KDL-43W756C
The model is KD-55XD8599. I have used HDMI input from my TV-box (it comes from our local Internet & cable TV provider), several computers and content from USB drives. Sony happily stays a dumb screen all the time.
There is a full Android TV inside but I have not dared any updates because the humble behaviour might change.
Obviously if you use the inbuilt digital tuner, things might be different, but I steer away from that at the moment.
Edited 2017-02-08 20:31 UTC
Same here, Only device connected to TV is IPTV box via HDMIl I also uyse the set-top box remote as the box does control the TV via HDMI-c and can turn it on and off. Sony claims that it would also send button presses from the remote but I have used the TV remote only for initial picture calibration and have put it away.
Regarding the updates. Sony provides them also as offline USB images, so download, put onto USB, attach it to TV … and hope for the best. I haven’t yet applied any updates, as the TV is stable and I don’t plan to attatch it to network and also the possibility of bricking the TV via update is scary enough so I have postponed it so far.
I have a SONY Smart TV (4K screen)
The UI is a POS.
I directly connect it to the internet about once every 6 months to see if the there is an update to the Android software it runs.
OTher than that is is just a TV.
Shows are played via my Humax HDR or direct from FreeSat (no monthly rental)
I also play 4K Videos I shoot from time to time. No Cat ones I promise you.
That’s about as dumb as you can get these days.
You must be joking. Android TV is the best “Smart TV” UI I ‘ve seen. After witnessing LG’s horrible webOS UI, it was a pleasant break (can’t comment on LG’s very latest UI though). And you get a YouTube app coded by Google, which means it uses the latest APIs and has the best YouTube UI I ‘ve seen, and doesn’t have problems like Samsung’s YouTube app capping off to 360p (some models have that).
And you can have Kodi (which means Exodus, Real-Movies and VideoDevil). And MX Player Pro or VLC. And FPSe and Mupen 64.
I chose my Bravia because of Android TV, not despite it (and also because it was the cheapest TV with 3D). Although my Nexus Player is still miles and miles ahead of the Android TV 5.1.1 my Sony runs, it is still a nice thing to have around.
Now, back on topic, if you don’t want it to spy on you, don’t connect to Google services and don’t accept any TOS. It’s an annoying “standard” these days that any kind of free “cloud” service comes with a spying clause in the TOS. But you can still connect it to the internet and download apks from apkmirror to have things like Kodi and VLC.
PS: Even paid-for OSes like Windows 10 have a spying clause coming with their free services, and unlike Android, they make it harder to decline the free services (for those who want to decline them). TVs aren’t special here.
Edited 2017-02-08 10:03 UTC
The Android TV I have on my Sony is a POS because it does not remember the tuning selections on the Satellite Tuner and the Freeview Terrestrial signal.
If I turn the power off even for an hour, the settings are lost. According to the maker, this is as designed. Really? Just shoddy programming if you ask me.
It also depite having been configured to NOT to turn itself off after 4 hours it does just that, turns the TV off. It seems to be regarded as “Won’t fix” problem.
As for the services you talk about, those might be available to you where you live but not here in the UK.
So, I use it as little as possible.
I don’t mind really as I do not want anyone knowing my viewing habbits. Adverts get skipped. If I could not do that then I’d probably give up watching TV apart from the BBC. I really don’t have time to waste watching adverts for things that I’ll never buy. I actually avoid the products where I do see the adverts.
I’m kinda ornery like that.
As I said, YMMV.
When I have to buy a TV I look for a dumb one. The last one I bought (for my parents, quite old them) was an LG. It was 4K (but not the newest ones) that was quite good on price and the only “smart” thing it has is the USB media player. No internet connection.
After seeing one smart TV on a friend house overlying stuff while viewing TV suggesting to install this or that application I though… no way I am going to pay for that. Not only that, it extends Stroustrup’s quote to the TV:
“I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone.”
Intrusive, overly complex and not worth it (IMO).
When I buy a tv I want a great visual experience. That’s it. I don’t want to have to worry about being spied on by the damn thing. Or having my lan spied on, or other devices I own, or any wifi within range, or any of that stupid crap. If a tv manufacturer wants to spy & log everything I watch then they can start giving their tvs away for free and/or pay me in exchange for having my privacy violated.
It’s disgusting that these companies pull this kind of shit and IF/when they actually get in trouble, they get a slap on the wrist and the victims get nothing. It’s disgraceful.
So I guess the tinfoil hat crowd was right about the tv spying on us. All that’s left in looney-ville is the mind control agents in the milk, and chemtrails in the sky.
Good thing my tv isn’t connected to the internet. Lol
Don’t forget the black helicopters! Though there are the Cessna planes that were proven to be FBI spyplanes scooping up cellular metadata, so…
It seems more and more these days the old conspiracy nuts we all made friendly jabs at are being proven right. Interesting times we’re living in.
I never believed in the definition of conspiracy theorists. I always just referred to them as ‘Idea People’. Because if the conspiracy they were ranting about wasn’t currently true, it would have planted the idea out there for someone to make true enough. Like David Icke’s claim of the lizard people. Clearly that is what Trump is.
When I purchased my Sony Android TV and read through the agreement, it was clear that the TV would instantly make the same pixel collection and would send it back to manufacturer. Hence I declined the agreement and have refused to attach a network cable to my TV. It is obvious that by pixel hunting the service provider and equipment manufacturers can figure out exactly what are you watching and when. So it can be said, it is nothing new and I am sorry if someone have fallen into this trap and have thought that nobody would do such things. It is business and content providers and equipment manufacturers are desperately trying to cash in any source of revenue – dirty or clean.
Then why on earth did I buy SmartTV with Android in it? Well it was because of the Sony Panel and an excessive amount of picture adjustment possibilities. I’ve never cared about the OS inside the TV and continue to use it as a dumb TV with very good panel.
Edited 2017-02-08 08:38 UTC
Whether it’s the TV/cable boxes/roku/PC/chromecast, we’re all being tracked every which way these days. Users don’t bother to fight it, and so we can expect that everything that can be monitored will be monitored for corporate exploitation.
Even employers are demanding access to social media profiles. People should stand up and say no, but between loosing privacy and loosing one’s paycheck, some people may not feel they have a reasonable choice.
And it seems we’ve learned nothing from snowden either, US companies are subject to secret government orders and neither of our political parties respects privacy enough to hold the government accountable for unconstitutional wiretapping.
Welcome to the future.
If you want any kind of “cloud” service that goes beyond the rock-bottom basic, you have to be tracked. There is no option to pay to be without it.
It’s like the crap deal we get with mobile games. You can’t get rid of microtransactions even if you are prepared to pay.
“Free” is profitable for corporations if it comes with gotchas, so companies won’t let you pay even if you want to.
I don’t mind the user tracking so all those “free” cloud services are heaven for me (with the exception of mobile games and microtransactions), but if it annoys you there is no way out of it beside using no “cloud” services beyond the rock-bottom basic.
Edited 2017-02-08 10:14 UTC
Big data companies already know what we browse on the internet, what apps we run in our phones, what adverts we click, what route we use to go to work or back home, the list of our friends and relatives, our mood, our marital status, where we work and where we live….should I worry about my smart TV telling someone what programs I watch? Netflix already knows most of that, as could Hulu or HBO or whatever streaming service is at hand….
As if Vizio was doing something uncommon nowadays….go figure
The real question is… why are people okay with this? I personally hate spam and advertisements in general and the fact that all you are to Google and Microsoft and Apple is an advertisement ID…
Because we can skip the ads with ublock origin and brave browser.
Yeah, the smarter individuals like us. But people like my mother couldn’t do that without my help.
Maybe just a drapery slip fiasco.
I wonder what those “if you got nothing to hide” types who either defend spying or are apathetic to spying because they’re “innocent” think.