Posted on 12/18/2023 8:20:02 AM PST by Red Badger
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 the cameras.
The reason prices have dropped is that manufacturers can sell TVs at a loss because of “post-purchase monetization.” That means manufacturers continue to earn revenue for as long as you own and use the TV by gathering and selling information and data to advertisers.
Smart TVs track what people are watching, how long they watch certain programs, movies, and sporting events, and even what they search for with the remotes.
Let’s say you watch a lot of sports. Manufacturers share that information with advertisers who can target sports fans with specific ads they’re likely interested in. Since the ads target a specific audience, those ads are more valuable and can be sold at a higher price to advertisers.
Before you worry too much, the information gathered is not tied to a person’s name. But if you’re not using a VPN to hide your IP address, it could be tied to every computer, device, and TV connected to your home’s WiFi and internet connection.
That makes it very possible that an advertiser could target you with ads based on what you watch on TV with specific ads on social media, internet browser, and email.
It’s all about gathering information to sell targeted ads to people interested in what the advertiser is selling.
If that is TMI (too much information) being shared for your comfort, you can turn off data collection on many TVs. Go into your TV settings and look for “privacy”, then turn off “data tracking”, or turn on “limit tracking”. The exact language is going to vary from one TV brand to the other.
Or, if you’re really concerned you can unplug the TV from the internet that will prevent any information being gathered and shared. But your TV will lose all functionality of a smart TV and cannot connect to any streaming service.
To find out if your TV has a camera, consult the user’s manual.
In Amerika, Television Watches You!
BIG data.
In George Orwell’s 1984, only Inner Party members could turn OFF the TV, and then only for a short time. For everyone else, it had to be on 24/7, with the Party propaganda blaring constantly......................Sounds a lot liek ABCNNBCBSPBS.................
That is a feature not a bug.
I got an LG with NO ANDROID/GOOGLE to avoid that. It has WebOS instead. Of course, I did NOT enable internet/WIFI access anyway. Base model, no camera, mic. And we use ClearPlay BluRay and Over the Air only. ClearPlay needs the WIFI, but doesn’t appear to do much with it.
Funny thing is in the Soviet Union, they had to put up a message telling people to turn off their TV after they closed down for the night.
The reason was that Soviet-built televisions had a propensity for catching on fire if left on too long.
why does anyone hook a spy tv to the internet ?
If I had such a tv I certainly would not, seriously you can get any number of dongles or a rasberry pi or even an old computer for almost nothing.
many Spy TVs also send audio and a complete log of everything you watch back to their home base.
You might say, well how can it know what am I watching?
Many of you have heard of Shazam it is an apple/android app that can listen to a few seconds of a song and tell you what it.
there is a similar app installed on some Spy tv sets that identifies tv shows, and especially porn.
If you use technology, there is no privacy.
This includes posting and answering on Free Republic.
Who hasn’t done some online window shopping and the next thing you know your popup ads and ads in your email are related to the exact items you were looking at?
Security cams aren’t the only time we are being watched.
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.
You don’t even wanna know what your cell phone is sharing.
A few years ago, my wife and I were driving somewhere. Her cell phone was on but not being used. We were talking about porch furniture, and I happened to remark that Adirondack chairs were more comfortable than they looked. I hadn’t mentioned, or even thought of, Adirondack chairs in years, and have never owned one. Starting within the hour, and for the next month or two, we were getting all sorts of ads via phone and email for, you guessed it, Adirondack chairs.
This is why my own cell phone stays turned off in a drawer unless I specifically need to use it to make or receive calls. Probably doesn’t help much, since my wife keeps hers on all the time.
How to keep that from happening I wonder.
I’m sure it has happened to me as well and I just didn’t realize it.
In 1977 I got divorced from a 24/7/365 TV addict. Left all the TV sets with her, and haven’t owned one since. Guess I did the right thing.
Short of keeping the phone in a soundproofed Faraday cage of some sort, I don’t know. I don’t assume that the phone in the drawer isn’t listening as well, but so far I haven’t noticed anything as obvious as the Adirondack-chair business.
Big brother is real
Oh yeah. Since the 90s if not longer, and worse every year.
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