Samsung Warns Customers To Think Twice About What They Say Near Smart TVs
In a troubling new development in the domestic consumer surveillance debate, an investigation into Samsung Smart TVs has revealed that user voice commands are recorded, stored, and transmitted to a third party.
The company even warns customers not to discuss personal or sensitive information within earshot of the device.
The new Samsung controversy stems from the discovery of a single haunting statement in the company's "privacy policy," which states:
"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."
So who exactly is this "third Party?"
Once the TV is listening, it lets you know by placing a big, colorful icon with a big microphone right in the middle of the screen, accompanied by a loud beeping tone.
Even if you’re not looking at the TV, you will likely hear the sound.
The mysterious ‘third party’
Why does your voice data need to leave your TV at all?Because translating speech to text requires some intense computing, and Samsung uses an outside service to do some of the heavy lifting.
Titans like Apple, Google, and Amazon can do this on their own servers, usually with technology they own through multi-million-dollar acquisitions.
But most smaller companies, including Samsung, use third-party companies to do the same work.
LG, Panasonic and a host of others do, too.
It seems unfair to demonize Samsung Smart TVs specifically when so many other household devices do the same thing.
If we’re going to have a conversation about the implications of voice commands and technology that listens to us, that’s fine, but let’s not single out a single company for doing something so many others do as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment