TV like a spy. You stare at him while he collects the data. “The Guardian”: Smart TV watches you too

Smart TVs are spying on their owners, he writes, citing a study by researchers at Northeastern University and Imperial College London. The devices were to send the collected data to advertising companies Google and. And this even when users did not have access to this streaming platform. By connecting to the network, the receivers “also gain the ability to see you,” we read.

Smart TVs collect information about their users

As the journal explains, TVs connected to the router begin to collect data not only from the receivers themselves, but also from the operating system, applications or tools such as Google’s Chromecast, and Amazon’s Fire Stick. Thanks to this, explains Rowenna Fielding, director of data protection consulting company Miss IG Geek, the TV becomes a “two-sided mirror”. – The purpose of this is to collect as much information about the behavior as possible [użytkownika – red.], interests, preferences and demographics so that you can monetize it, mainly through targeted advertising, she explains.

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What information do televisions collect about their users?

But what kind of information can a smart TV collect? As explained by Toby Lewis, global head of threat intelligence at Darktrace, a cybersecurity company, the details depend on the manufacturer or brand. Most devices, however, are capable of recording audio, video and television information. This means, among other things, that thanks to voice control, the software can record conversations and sounds, and then send them for further analysis. In addition, the information obtained from TV sets, combined with information obtained from other sources (e.g. laptops), allow for even better user profiling.

However, what happens next with the information collected from us is not entirely clear. As we read, it is “common knowledge” that the data obtained is not only used to improve and personalize the content, but is also sold to other companies – and then the producer has no control over them, explains Lewis.