Free Republic

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Smart TVs are a real bargain these days and prices keep dropping. Despite TV’s getting better with more functionality, brighter pictures, and more features, prices for some TVs have dropped thousands of dollars in the past few years. Why? The reason is also the answer to the question “are smart TVs spying on us?” In a manner of speaking, smart TVs do watch us while we watch TV. But not how you might think. Most TVs do not have cameras with the exception of many SAMSUNG models but even those sets aren’t actually watching you through...

<p>WikiLeaks says Samsung smart TVs were hacked to enable spying on consumers.</p><p>In a trove of documents released Tuesday, WikiLeaks included code that it says shows the CIA worked with U.K. intelligence officials to turn microphones in TVs into listening devices.</p>

Did you know that your IOT devices are secretly communicating with each other? This includes IOT devices that are not in your home. Did you know that what your IOT devices do may be transmitted to third parties? Did you know that your TV may also have the capability and may currently be transmitting your activity far and wide?

Power companies in Texas are remotely raising temperatures inside of some customers’ homes amid the state’s ongoing energy shortage.Houston resident Brandon English, whose home has an internet-connected smart thermostat installed, was shocked to learn of the practice after his wife and infant daughter “woke up sweating.”Speaking with KHOU 11, English stated that despite his wife turning down the temperature before taking a nap with their 3-year-old child, the temperature in their home rose significantly.“They’d been asleep long enough that the house had already gotten to 78 degrees,” English said. “So they woke up sweating.”English, who expressed concerns over the potential...

Recently, a mainland Chinese netizen named “v64500” wrote on the online forum “V2EX” that his internet-connected television was scanning electronic devices in his house and uploading the data to a company called “Gozen Data.” The netizen revealed that his television is a mainland Chinese brand called “Skyworth.” The netizen thought the television was a bit slow and checked its backend service program and “found something called ‘Gozen Data’ and had no idea what it was doing.” The netizen said the television used the Android system. After studying the data for a while, v64500 found that “this thing [Gozen Data] scans...

I, Just This Week purchased a Vizio V-Series 50” HDR Smart tv. (V505-G9) Here is my problem. I'll be watching a program and the screen will shut off. (goes black) There will still be sound but no picture! Sometimes it happens when changing the channel!

I can't afford tv or tv services. Any suggestions?

It was a crowded primary field and Tony Evers, running for governor, was eager to win the support of officials gathered at a Wisconsin state Democratic Party meeting, so the candidate did all the usual things: He read the room, he shook hands, he networked. Then he put an electronic fence around everyone there. The digital fence enabled Evers’ team to push ads onto the iPhones and Androids of all those attending the meeting. Not only that, but because the technology pulled the unique identification numbers off the phones, a data broker could also use the digital signatures to follow...

Comcast WIFI, two smart TV's, and Three devices all worked perfectly until I got a new cell phone.

I'm sick of the current tv we have, it was a cheap off brand, and I'm looking for a good quality replacement, but there are so many different suppliers out there it is hard to find one at a decent cost. I'm looking for 40" preferably NOT a smart tv but it wont be hooked up to internet anyway, but I would like to find one that is under $300 and I could use some advice as to what to choose.

We have a Vizio smart tv, model D43-D2. It used to have a keyboard screen so you could surf the web. We never used it past the first couple of weeks. Now, we can't find it anywhere and neither could the internet/cable repair guy.

Help needed from any who have Roku and are viewing Internet feeds on their smart TV. A poster was nice enough to offer help for my DH several weeks back in attempting to wire up our television to use as a monitor. Since, that time the files saved on the computer were lost during a storm. The computer fried and buried..sigh. No longer have that information. Please help once again. Both he and I would be most appreciative with any help given. TIA

I am at my wits end. I am certainly capable of streaming many debates and town halls to my laptop. But, I want to display them on the TV. Both are smart TV's and have Tivo wired to my personal network. Any ideas how to accomplish this wirelessly?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A woman smashed seven flat-screen TVs at a store in Alaska with a hatchet and later told police that people on the televisions were watching her, according to police and court documents obtained Monday. Miranda Davison, 33, was arrested on a felony charge of criminal mischief following the vandalism Sunday at a Walmart in Juneau.

CHICAGO -- When you sit down to watch television, you probably don't imagine that your TV is also watching you. But Consumer Reports says that new models of some popular brands of smart TVs can record and share information about everything you watch. It's likely you don't think you've invited a spy into your home when setting up a new TV. But this Samsung can record and share everything that's viewed, whether it's a broadcast or streaming from the Internet. And some smart TVs can even track what DVD you're watching.

Why worry about Big Brother? It's your big Samsung TV that's watching you. Oh, and listening to you. That seems to be the conclusion from reading the privacy small print offered by the company. (Samsung's motto: TV has never been this smart.) It concerns the voice-recognition feature, vital for everyone who finds pressing a few buttons on their remote far too tiresome. The wording, first spotted by the Daily Beast, first informs you that the company may "capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features." This...

Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition. Left: Samsung SmartTV privacy policy, warning users not to discuss personal info in front of their TV Right: 1984

I just bought a new TV. The old one had a good run, but after the volume got stuck on 63, I decided it was time to replace it. I am now the owner of a new “smart” TV, which promises to deliver streaming multimedia content, games, apps, social media, and Internet browsing. Oh, and TV too. The only problem is that I’m now afraid to use it. You would be too — if you read through the 46-page privacy policy. The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. It logs where, when, how, and for how long you...