Smart TV’s Snooping Might Be Worse Than You Think

As Usual Legislation Trails Far Behind Reality

At this point most of us have given up on the fight against Smart TVs; like an automatic transmission a dumb TV isn’t even an option you can pay extra for.  We all know they spy on us, but we can only chose to completely abandon watching TV or accept the intrusion on our privacy.  A recent report out of the US spells out just how bad things are.  The report spells out the attempts over the previous decade to hold cable companies and Free Advertiser-Supported TV services like Tubi to be transparent about what personal data they are harvesting and storing. It also points out that there have been successful court rulings against these streaming services for not informing users about what data they capture in return for allowing customers to use their services.

When The Register inquired why the Center for Digital Democracy expects something to come of this report after a decade of inaction by the FTC, FCC and other governmental agencies, the organization explained that they do not believe these agencies understand the full extent of the data harvesting that is taking place.  This seems a bit naive, but as you read through the depressing list of techniques streaming services use to monitor their customers habits, perhaps they are right. 

Here’s hoping something other than a slap on the wrist or three will come out of the report.