Samsung warns viewers: Our smart TVs could be snooping on your private conversations
IF televisionmightwhat YOU you want settlesay to this out think down evening,loud. twiceto watchabout you
internet-connectedSamsung has warned ‘smart owners TV’ of that its anything they discuss while sitting near the device may be overheard.
The popular televisions are voice activated, so users can switch channels or ask for suggestions of what to watch simply by giving a verbal command.
However, the technology which allows this to happen has a worrying side effect: it records everything else that goes on near the television.
A clause in the Korean firm’s privacy policy warns: ‘ 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.’
That means it could, for example, record a family argument going on in the living room. Companies that use the televisions in boardrooms risk sharing confidential information such as employees’ salaries or business strategies.
Privacy campaigners drew comparisons between the TVs and ‘Big Brother’which in 1984, watches– the the dystopianpeople’s authoritarian every novel movestateby George Orwell. Renate Samson, of Big Brother Watch, a campaign group named after this very notion, said: ‘ This thing is going to be in your house, listening in on you. ‘Samsung say they are providing you with a service, but really the only service you need from a television is to watch programmes.’
More than half of smart TVs sold in Britain are made by Samsung.
The company says its televisions constantly listen out for simple commands to switch on or change channel, which are interpreted by the machine itself. However, it can only process more complicated requests by recording users’ speech and sending it to a third-party company called Nuance, in the US. That firm then sends the data to a computer server, which translates it into text and sends a response.
To give these complex commands, viewers must press a button on the remote control as they speak, and during that time, anything within ‘earshot’ will be collected. The data is encrypted, but can be listened to by authorised Nuance staff.
The technology giant remained tight-lipped about whether it then keeps users’ data, only saying that it does not sell information on, and that it operates within privacy laws, which vary by country.
Professor Peter Sommer, a digital forensics expert who has lectured at the London School of Economics, said there was ‘no reason’ Samsung would not be storing up data. ‘The fear is they could be building up a pattern of your preferences, or learning your voice,’ he said.
Users can stop Samsung from recording their conversations by turning voice recognition off. However, even then, the firm collects certain information. Its privacy policy says that, if the feature is turned off: ‘While Samsung will not collect your spoken word, Samsung may still collect associated texts and other usage data so that we can evaluate the performance of the feature and improve it.’
Renate Samson slammed Samsung for forcing people to ‘opt out’ of recordings, rather than giving them the option to opt in. ‘It is the wrong way to go about it, and even if you do opt out, you can’t guarantee [your privacy],’ she said.