February 5, 2015

New Smart TVs offer a window into your life

By Shepard Ambellas

(INTELLIHUB) — Smart TVs may be getting too smart as some now actually collect and transmit your spoken words, personal information, and sensitive data to other 3rd party sources.

In fact Samsung, a major electronic manufacture, admits that they “collect, use, share, and store information through your SmartTV in the ways described in the Samsung Privacy Policy.” Meaning that essentially, private corporations and/or Big Brother is now able to always watch and listen to you and your family in your home, office, or elsewhere, wherever a smartTV is present.
The days of personal privacy are over

Not only do SmartTVs collect and transmit “information about content that you have watched, purchased, downloaded, or streamed” they also use advanced “voice recognition” technology to better interact with you. However this technology comes at a price which you now may be paying with your freedom.

“If you enable Voice Recognition, you can interact with your Smart TV using your voice. To provide you the Voice Recognition feature, some voice commands may be transmitted (along with information about your device, including device identifiers) to a third-party service that converts speech to text or to the extent necessary to provide the Voice Recognition features to you. In addition, Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features. 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.”, reads Samsung’s “Global Privacy Policy”.

It’s also important to further note that Samsung SmartTVs come embedded with a video camera that capture your physical “gestures” and also utilize advanced “facial recognition” systems which allow “you to authenticate your Samsung Account or to log into certain services”. Moreover “once you complete the steps required to set up facial recognition, an image of your face is stored locally on your TV”, Samsung says.

Additionally Samsung’s Global Privacy Policy states, “Please note that when you watch a video or access applications or content provided by a third-party, that provider may collect or receive information about your SmartTV (e.g., its IP address and device identifiers), the requested transaction (e.g., your request to buy or rent the video), and your use of the application or service. Samsung is not responsible for these providers’ privacy or security practices. You should exercise caution and review the privacy statements applicable to the third-party websites and services you use.”

Are you kidding me! For all we know this may give the NSA and CIA direct access into your life as they could be considered 3rd parties as the privacy policy states. So you may want to think twice about getting that new Smart TV as it will open up a virtual window into your home or office. Unless you simply don’t care.

About the author:

Shepard Ambellas is the founder, editor-in-chief of Intellihub News and the maker of SHADE the Motion Picture. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook. Shepard also appears on the Travel Channel series America Declassified. You can also listen to him on Coast To Coast AM with hosts, both, George Noory on “Chemtrails” and John B. Wells on the “Alternative Media Special“. Shepard Ambellas has also been featured on the Drudge Report, the largest news website in the entire world, for his provocative coverage of the Bilderberg Group.