• 536 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 537 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 538 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 938 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 943 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 945 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 948 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 948 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 949 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 951 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 951 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 955 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 955 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 956 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 958 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 959 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 962 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 963 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 963 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 965 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
  1. Home
  2. Tech
  3. Internet

Are Smart TVs Spying On Us?

Smart TVs

A study by researchers from Northeastern University and Imperial College London found that many popular smart TV models, including models by Samsung and LG, as well as streaming dongles Roku and Amazon FireTV, are leaking sensitive user data to advertisers.

The models listed above would share data like location and IP address with Netflix, Facebook and third-party advertisers, according to the FT.

Just when social media companies were starting to modify their data collection practices to better respect user privacy, the next threat is coming from the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart TVs are becoming increasingly popular in the US.

In some cases, users' data were being sent to Netflix even though they didn't have an account. And it's not just smart TVs: other smart devices from speakers to cameras have also been caught sending user data to third parties like Spotify.

Nearly 70% of Americans have a smart TV or a Roku or Apple TV. Nearly all of these devices have recognition technology that tracks what you watch, and sells data approximating your interests to advertisers.

In a separate study of smart TVs by Princeton University, researchers found that some apps supported by Roku and FireTV were sending data such as specific user identifiers to third parties including Google.

Amazon was one of the third-parties contacted by about half of the devices tested by researchers at Northeastern. Related: Economic Woes Weigh On Copper Prices

"Amazon is contacted by almost half the devices in our tests, which stands out because [this means] Amazon can infer a lot of information about what you’re doing with different devices in your home, including those they don’t manufacture," said David Choffnes, computer scientist at Northeastern University and one of the paper’s authors. "They also can have a lot of visibility into what their competitors are doing."

Since most of the data shared by the devices were encrypted, researchers couldn't tell exactly what was being transmitted, in some cases.

"They can definitely see some [viewing] is taking place, but what they can exactly see depends on what the manufacturer is sending, which we have not made an attempt to re-engineer," said Hamed Haddadi, computer scientist at

Imperial College and another paper author.

But experts warn: There's "minimal oversight" regarding these smart devices. As one analyst warned, "the situation is dire."

Buyer beware.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment