Is your TV spying on you? This week Fox News published an article about how televisions may be stealing your data.
The article said that tracking on television is just like how tracking works on a computer or phone.
Private data is worth a lot of money especially with advertising companies and as well as within governments, according to the piece.
The article says that smart televisions come equipped with cameras that most people do not realize or understand are there. It, therefore, recommends beginning with the smart TV’s tracking features, especially Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). This is a visual recognition feature that can identify every ad, TV show, or movie you’re playing on your TV. This includes streaming boxes, cable/over-the-air TV, and even DVD and Blu-ray players.
This data is collected and used for marketing and targeted advertising purposes. In terms of how to exactly turn off the recognition and tracking services, it depends on the television model, the piece says, and recommends how to do so per television maker.
Fox News lately has published a lot of articles about devices spying on people.
While the article about televisions was published on Sunday, an article about devices was also published three days prior, saying that there was a way to keep technology from being turned into a “spy device.”
The article said that while tech manufacturers have made strides to help people identify when their cameras and microphones are being used, it is up to the user to take the extra step to safeguard themselves. iPhones have indicators at the top right corner that notifies you with a green dot when the camera is being used and an orange dot when the microphone is being used.
It also said that apps continue to push for more and more access, beyond what the apps actually require to function.
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