Do you own a smart TV? Is your smart TV spying on you? Do you know how to protect yourself? Will your TV give away your personal data and information to the next person who sits down to watch it? What can you do to avoid this?
We use Smart TVs for a variety of purposes. But the most worrying one is that they are always listening in on your conversations. Your TV is spying on all your behaviors, interests and other information. There is exploitation of this data to target you with the most relevant advertising, which makes you feel like you’re just a number in a sea of faces with increasingly tailored offers.
Understanding the Dynamics of Smart TV
First, it’s important to note the difference between TVs with a built-in communications protocol (such as Samsung Smart TV) and TVs that use an existing communications protocol (such as HDMI). If you have an older model set, it would most likely be using a proprietary module. It makes it more difficult for hackers to spy on you and find out the information that your TV has recorded during its usage.
However, if you have a newer model set, then the set is most probably using an existing communications protocol. This means that it is easy for hackers to collect the data and extract it from your set.
Why would anyone want to spy on us?
We live in an era that we are constantly connected to each other. Most of the time, we use our smart devices and the internet. For example, we check our social media accounts on our smartphones, tablets or laptops. They are a part of our lives.
If you’ve already updated your device to a newer version that is available online, then stay alert! It might contain new code that will allow hackers to steal your private information.
Data harvesting is an increasingly common practice in the advertising industry, with social media giants like Facebook and Instagram leading the charge. The data harvested may target you with the most relevant offers, which creates a personalized experience. However, this data is then exploited to target you with increasingly tailored offers. Such offers make you feel like you’re just a number in a sea of faces – making it less about your preferences.
Is a Smart TV very SMART?
As all TVs become smart and connect to the internet through the router, they also gain the ability to watch you.
All TVs are going to be smart. It is true TVs are becoming smart and integrate themselves with the internet. While they have your permission, they’ll also be watching you. There are a variety of ways for this to happen: infrared tracking, facial recognition or voice pattern analysis. Some company may even be planning on “tracking customers’ viewing habits and targeting them with personalized ads.” This is dangerous because it’s invasive. It may result in content that has an effect on the target audience.
Once enabled, smart TV models from LG, Sony or Samsung among other famous brands may collect data from the TV set itself. They may also collect data from applications and the operating system.
What Should You Do?
Smart TV users have been warned that data from their TVs is being collected, and they should take steps to turn off the feature. The data collected includes a list of apps installed on the TV, a list of programs watched, and even which channels are viewed. These TVs can also track what you say to it and how you move the remote control.
Devices like the Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and Amazon Fire Stick are changing the way we consume content. These devices connect to your TV so you can watch videos and other content.
In the past, people were limited to watching TV as it was broadcasted on their set, but now they have access to thousands of hours of programming and live events through streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. The streaming services don’t require a contract and come with a variety of prices for different packages. You can pay for the streaming service monthly, yearly, or with an annual membership.
TV is becoming more of a device to monitor people back with advertisers, rather than just using it to show content. Rowena Fielding, director of data protection consultancy at Miss IG Geek, said “TV has become a two-way mirror that allows data brokers and advertisers to monitor you.”
How your TV handles the collected data
We have a new, privacy-threatening problem on our hands: smart TVs.
The data collected by Smart TVs depends on who manufactured it, what brand, and which version. For example, most TVs are theoretically capable of collecting all sorts of information about the user’s habits including videos watched and conversations as explained by Toby Lewis from Darktrace.
He said that what brands do with this data is not explicit. Brands are collecting user data at an alarming rate. It is true that brands are using this data to improve content quality, but they are also selling it to other companies. This is making the data ambiguous and unclear with no transparency for users.
Furthermore, he noted that once a sale is completed, the manufacturer no longer has control over the data. He also added that it often becomes unclear what is being sent because of ambiguous language in terms of privacy settings and data transmission policies. In some cases, there may be a difficultly changing the settings.
It’s not just email and instant messaging that make it hard to know what you’re sharing and with whom. The Internet has created a culture of short, often meaningless messages in the form of likes, shares, and comments. You might be happy to share an article or meme on social media, for example, but without thinking much about what’s at stake when you do.
Protecting yourself against Smart TV Spying
Televisions are becoming smarter and smarter with the help of artificial intelligence. Samsung’s smart TVs allow you to connect your phone, stream Netflix and YouTube, and even play mobile games on your living room TV. However, these TVs also collect data about their users and send it back to Samsung, including where they use the TV, what they watch on it, how long they use it for and more.
Smart TVs collect data as long as they have a connection to the internet. It’s not possible to stop them from doing this. But, in many cases it’s not worth stopping them because it affects viewing experience and this is really important.
Smart TVs are always listening in order to provide you with a more personalized experience. However, this also means they are collecting your data, which is being stored in the cloud, and is often sold to advertisers. There are some measures you should take to protect yourself against smart TV eavesdropping on your conversations or spying.
The EU has recently imposed a series of new regulations on companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. These regulations are good to protect the privacy of their users. The EU is requiring that these companies offer ‘Do Not Track’ features, more transparency about data collection, and an opt-in or opt-out option for personalization or targeted advertising.
For example, you can change a few settings to disable some things like ACR (Automatic Content Recognition), ads, personalization features, the microphone and the camera.
Turn off the microphone and camera: Check the settings to ensure that your TV is not using these features and turn them off if it is. This will stop your TV from spying on you and recording what you say and do in front of it.
Other Important Steps
When it comes to wireless networking, the router is the backbone of your network. Ensure you properly configure and protect your router. One way to do this is by changing the default password and configuring a guest network.
Web tracking is a measure you can take to improve security. Web tracking is the website owner’s ability to monitor the user’s activities on the website. You do this by following your internet browser as you browse other websites. There are a number of things to do to prevent web tracking, which include turning off web tracking when introduced and updating software as soon as the updates are available.
Block wifi. When it comes to hacking, your smart TV is one of the least secure devices in your home. In fact, a recent study by security company Kaspersky Lab found that more than 70% of smart TV’s on the market are vulnerable. If possible, disconnect from WiFi or switch to a different wireless network that isn’t in direct connection to your TV. This will prevent hackers from accessing your data through WiFi on your TV without having physical access.
And if you’re not tech-savvy or don’t have the time to manage the TV’s settings, just turn off the connection from your device to your WiFi. You can disconnect from a WiFi network in order to stop it from sending out collected information about what you watch on TV.
Why don’t you unplug the TV when it’s not in use?
