Samsung's Smart Televisions May Spy On Viewers
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Instead of viewers watching television, what if the TV was doing watching?
That is the question being asked after Samsung SmartTV's privacy was posted online, and stated that while using the device's voice recognition feature that personal information may be shared with a third-party.
This raises the question if there may be more of a scandal when a viewer want to watch "Scandal."
The exact text from the privacy policy reads:
"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."
In a statement released to The Daily Beast, Samsung stated that the company takes "consumer privacy very seriously" and that all of the company's Smart televisions utilize security safeguards that protect "consumers' personal information."
Samsung told BBC that the company "did not retain voice data or sell the audio being captured."
Additionally, the company stated in reports that the voice recognition feature can be activated or deactivated on the television for additional security, and viewers would be notified that the voice activation feature was activated because a microphone icon appears on the screen.
While Samsung stated that it has taken steps to protect consumers, the rise in connected homes raises concerns, stated Jeffrey Ingalsbe, director, Center for Cyber Security and Intelligence Studies at University of Detroit Mercy.
"TVs are not built for security," Ingalsbe stated. "Not only is a TV hackable, (Samsung is) dumping all this information into third parties."
He is concerned that once the information from a viewer's television is shared with the third party, hackers could target the third parties assisting with the voice recognition services to obtain information.
To protect information, and to maintain privacy, Ingalsbe recommends opting out privacy or data sharing options on the television, do not use mic on the television and put tape over the camera used for facial recognition.
