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A Very Slippery Slope: Yes, Your Samsung Smart TV Can Listen To Your Private Conversations
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
The biggest story in the tech world today is the revelation that Samsung’s Smart TV can and will listen to your conversations, and will share the details with a third party. Yes, you read that right. Here’s the actual language from the privacy policy itself:
“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.”
Naturally, this has freaked people out and led to multiple comparisons to 1984 and the ubiquitous Big Brother. It was framed exceptionally well by EFF activist Parker Higgins in the following tweet:
Left: Samsung SmartTV privacy policy, warning users not to discuss personal info in front of their TV Right: 1984 pic.twitter.com/osywjYKV3W
— Parker Higgins (@xor) February 8, 2015
While the privacy policy statement is disturbing in its own right, the extent of how creepy it is has to do with the fact that this information will be shared with a “third party.” This begs the question, who is this third party? Corynne McSherry, the intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has some thoughts. From the Daily Beast:
Judging by the privacy policy, it seems Samsung is collecting voice commands mostly to improve the TV’s performance. “It looks like they are using a third-party service to convert speech to text, so that’s most of what is being disclosed here,” said Corynne McSherry, the intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
But, said McSherry, “If I were the customer, I might like to know who that third party was, and I’d definitely like to know whether my words were being transmitted in a secure form.” If the transmission is not encrypted, a SmartHacker could conceivably turn your TV into an eavesdropping device.
After reading this, I have two concerns. First, there’s the point outlined by McSherry about the vulnerability to hackers. So even if we can be assured that Samsung and the third party isn’t up to anything nasty, is the entire process secure enough to protect ourselves from hackers, or an intelligence agency like the NSA? I have my doubts.
Beyond this, there is an equally important concern regarding how this trend might progress into the future, and how it will future erode personal privacy if we don’t address it now.
Take Facebook for example. In its early days it was a seemingly benign, efficient and enjoyable way to stay in touch with friends and reconnect with olds ones. It lured in over a billion users and then essentially decided to turn on all of them without really ever letting anyone know in order to make an incredible amount of money. I’ve discussed some examples of this on Liberty Blitzkrieg on many occasions (links at the end), but most recently I highlighted an incredibly important and powerful article by Salim Varani, in the post: A Very Disturbing and Powerful Post – “Get Your Loved Ones Off Facebook”. Here’s an excerpt:
Facebook doesn’t keep any of your data safe or anonymous, no matter how much you lock down your privacy settings. Those are all a decoy. There are very serious privacy breaches, like selling your product endorsement to advertisers and politicians, tracking everything you read on the internet, or using data from your friends to learn private things about you – they have no off switch.
Facebook’s blocks posts based on political content it doesn’t like. They blocked posts about Fergusson and other political protests. When Zuckerberg alledgedly went a bit nuts and banned the word “privacy” from meetings at Facebook, it was also blocked from any Facebook post. You just got an error message about “inappropriate content”. Yeah, uh huh. Inappropriate for who?
If you’ve ever used Facebook contact sync, or used Facebook on your mobile phone, Facebook took your complete contact list. Real names, phone numbers, addresses, emails, everything. They then use that to create “shadow profiles” of the people you know who aren’t on Facebook. Non Facebook users often see this in action, in the form of emails to them from Facebook, containing their personal information. Facebook users can see this when they upload a picture of a non-Facebook user, and they’re automatically tagged. My friend’s not on Facebook, but since me and a few friends used Facebook on our phones, Facebook has his name and contact information, plus knows who his friends are because it sees him in their address book and calling records.
That’s even scarier because Facebook is used heavily for political advertising, and product endorsements. People know I raised money for kids with cancer before, so they might not be surprised if they see an ad where I’m endorsing a Christian outreach programme poor kids in Africa. But I categorically only support programmes that don’t have religious allegiances, since they’re known to bias their support to people who convert. Worse, a lot of people might assume things about my religious beliefs based on these false endorsements. Don’t even get me started on all the hypey startup stuff I don’t condone!
Bet you didn’t think that this is what Facebook would become when you first joined, did you? But this is indeed what it has become, and now that you’re hooked you can cut the cord. Like with drug dealers, “the first one’s always free.” If you haven’t read Salim’s article in full, I strongly suggest you do.
Now back to the original Daily Beast article for some more thoughts on the matter…
Samsung’s privacy policy notes that in addition to voice commands being transmitted, information about your device, “including device identifiers,” may also be beamed over the Internet to the third-party service, “or to the extent necessary to provide Voice Recognition features to you.”
McSherry called that bit of qualifying language “worrisome.”
“Samsung may just be giving itself some wiggle room as the service evolves, but that language could be interpreted pretty broadly,” she said.
This is my key concern. Although it might be completely benign right now, that in no way, shape or form means it will remain that way. In fact, once everyone is hooked on SmartTVs and forgets about this whole hubbub, these companies could eagerly turn around and sell all of your private conversation details to advertisers or worse. By then, it might be too late for you to let go.
* * *
For related articles, see:
A Very Disturbing and Powerful Post – “Get Your Loved Ones Off Facebook”
Why You Should Think Twice Before Using Facebook’s Messenger App
Was the Department of Defense Behind Facebook’s Controversial Manipulation Study?
This Man’s $600,000 Facebook Disaster is a Warning For All Small Businesses
»
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The War on Terror knows no bounds........
And I can attest that the FBI WILL appear at your doorstep.
S.W.A.T.
Special Weapons And Televisions
Yeah the machines are getting smarter. The other day I got a telemarketing call and when I asked it if it was a machine it answered "no" when it in fact was a machine. The whole conversation shocked me with the elevated capabilities of that "woman".
I had one of those. They answered like a human but sounded like a computer...Android?
Funny thing is that the human telemarketers are getting dumber!
<<Yeah the machines are getting smarter.>>
The same guy keeps calling me up trying to tell me that my microsoft computer had a virus on it! Ohoooo, scar, scary.
No matter what I tell him, it is always the same. I asked him if he honestly believed what he was telling me and he just kept reading off the same damn script.
my samsung smart tv is dumber than fuck. the external speaker jack isn't hooked up to the volume control on the remote. the damn thing doesn't receive neflix. those things are a fucking ripoff. while i'm at it the wireless headphones they advertise are dumb as fuck too. for $359 you get no built in ipod, you need a separate bluetooth device. smart devices are dumb as fuck and a total misnomer.
Unscrew the phillips head screws around the back of the unit where you see the arrows next to the screw holes. Remove the back carefully and locate the wires to the condenser microphone. The mic may be facing the front or to the side somewhere. Using wire cutters or nippers, nip that liitle sucker off, and while you are at it, find the camera. The camera most likely has it's own placement on the board and a serial type ribbon that can be removed from the connector or ripped out by the roots.
OR; don't buy the fucking TV and let Samsung et al know we aren't down with that shit.....
But DAMMIT, I LIKE Game Of Thrones, I LIKE Walking Dead, I LIKE my UFC.
OK - but I'm guessing the wife and kids aren't going to like this
No no no, do not snip the wife and kids...snip the Samsung!
Bingo, and thats how they can get away with it.
That's the one they WANT you to find.
The speakers are microphones.
guess what else is two way
That's the one they WANT you to find.
Beware of the big bad television and pay no attention to your gps-enabled, fingerprint-reading, battery-powered mobile tracking device.
all i know is fuck all this shit, especially a new car. all my shit is 150,000 miles old or older. this computer was being thrown away and gives me the blue screen of death at least once a day and shuts down, but always comes back for a few moar blogs. fuck this new shit and the fuckers that got a plan for you and me. never had face fart. fuck peer pressure. fuck brian williams. fuck oprah. fuck a duck. fuck the fed. fuck apple.
have very pleasnat evening and sshhh, sam is listening to your moaning and groaning, ha...
Is it too late to suggest that you go to a thrift store and purchase an old, lead-based, 35 inch CRT from the late 1980's, and a set of physical paper encyclopaedias?
There is a reason why demographics cut off at 54 for the prime demo. You have seen it all, heard all the lies and sales pitches, and you stop buying useless shit and become an old crank who is out of touch with used stuff bought for cash and no debt.
What good is that to the economy? Cash? Buying used? Blaspheme!
My Funk and Wagnals cost almost $200 back in 1990.
They are "Smart-Divices" for "Dumb-People".
Start being worried when you get one for free.
Hmmmmm...sort of like an Obamaphone and those free "pail hats" from the Chum Bucket?
Out in the country we use to have party lines to listen in on. Oh... the good old days.
Why do yu think this SMART GRID is going world-wide? First the need was to install hydro meters with wi-fi chat. Then came the smart appliances (like TV). Informatiion from every single aspect of your private life being gathered by appliances and transmitted via your electric meter.
Samsung will suck you off...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvCGqhShNnk
Anything with a camera and or microphone plus an internet connection can and will be used against you in a court of law.
In Amerika, TV listens to you!
It is called "corporate suicide," and Samsung is doing it.
Anyone who markets televisions like this will become the Digital of the twenty first century.
Alright, I'm game! What the fuck is a hydrometer? And how the fuck do I determine whether or not my Samsung t.v. Is a "smart" one?
Hydrometer measures gravity of liquids. Useful tool in beer and wine making.
That's not a slippery slope, that's free fall.
How novel, a TV that watches you more than you watch it. In a twisted ironic sort of way it makes sence, since the content of the average person’s life in the family room is much more interesting to watch than the shit your cable channel broadcasts in your direction. At least they could add a feature so the TV says “Bless you” every time you sneeze.
Just to make it all warm and fuzzy, perhaps they should take 5 minute snippets of vouyeristic family room footage and play it back on T.V. every Saturday evening. They could call it 'Reality Roulette'. Make sure you tune in to see if you made this edition; you too can be a star. I'm going to go throw up now.......
In Australia, there is a TV show called GoggleBox (not GOOGle Box). From what I've seen of the advertisements, it's a TV show about watching people watch TV. I kid you not.
Note: I just looked up what GoggleBox is, and it turns out it's a UK invention. Here's the synopsis from Wikipedia:
It's terrifying that as a species, we have been reduced to this sort of behaviour and "interest".
I used to have one of those 35'' monster tv boxes. I would love to sit in front of it with other people when it was off, point at our relfection in the screen and say "This is my favorite show!".
Wow, well I have a samsung smart tv, but never activated the speech thing. I didn't look at disabling it though. So? Do I cut the microphone out? And I don't believe there's a camera, but... I haven't opened it up to look.
And I hate to admit, but went on assface briefly. But it got too stupid way too quickly. Somebody sending a 'lightsaber duel' or some shit. Deleted. And, by the way, to actually delete your profile, it takes 2 weeks or more. If you go on any link that is associated with assface, your profile will again become active. I went about a month without even turning a computer on. It's unbelievable how easy it is to control a population with a few electronic gadgets. And have them believe it wholeheartedly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAVQLM7Jf_4
This knowledge has been out there for awhile, it took the idiots in the mainstream this long to figure out news from last year once again. It was used in the Xbox One Kinect 2.0 debate on various formus as one of the piece of evidence that such devices are capable of doing this and the 'demand' by various entities to do so is indeed there.
Of course, remember all of this data can be hijacked or requested by our Gov't, so despite Samsung's legalese, they try to overlook and obfuscate that they are full of shit, and thus their legalese means jack shit.
Don't buy it, instead wait for the Verizon TV - no danger of them listening to their customers, especially their customer service department.
Glad I still have my old Sony 32" tube set. Never turn it on to watch it, but at least it is not spying on me. Just another reason not to buy a newer set. But Google watches me, I am sure.
Interesting note, that set you "never watch" is probably ghosting. It is drawing electricity even when turned off. You can get a Digital Electricity Usage Monitor for cheap at most hardware stores or online. Plug the monitor into the wall and the device into the monitor. You can see how much it draws when turned off and then when in operation.
I would advise using that on all your devices you own. I replaced a set of computer speakers that was drawing massive wattage, even when turned off. Could easily end up saving you $100 in the fist year alone by replacing items or installing power strips in the appropriate places.
We save their asses in '53 and this is what they give us in return?
http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_electronics/management/bo...
I specifically didn't buy a smart tv. It has a great picture and minimal hookups. I don't need apps on my tv that are on everything else connected to it.
Wait for the idiots to find the camera
simple get off of facebook
don't buy the products.
remember you used to be able to live without it/them.
it's up to you to teach your kids
wake up
tic toc
Not being aware you are being watched is an advantage to 'them'..... being aware you are being watched is an advantage to you.
Criminals can use the knowledge to fake legitimacy in front of these 'spies' whilst doing their evil shit out of sight & sound.
Get a large black thick towel to hang over your tv when not in use.
I have taped over the camera on my laptop long ago.
So tell me..the typewriter, hand written letters and old style cameras to come back into fashion....?
If I go to someone's house and they have such a TV, the last thing it will hear is, "F*** Big Brother!" right before a baseball bat smashes it.
when do we get ZEROHEDGE WITH HTTPS PLEASE TYLER?!;)
"is the entire process secure enough to protect ourselves from hackers, or an intelligence agency like the NSA? I have my doubts."
Lol the entire process IS for the purpose of "an intelligence agency like the NSA"!
I can't stop dreaming about running away to HonestAnn's redoubt...
The f eds have been doing this with cell phones for a long time. It isnt even good enough to turn the cell phone off because they can turn on the mic remotely WITHOUT turning on the little red power light. So you think the phone is off but the mic is on. This is how they took out the mob (the part they didnt like) via RICO. Either wrap it in tin foil - poor man's faraday cage - or share it with a friend to skew the data. Noise to signal ratio is your ally.
Another reason to get rid of the TV.
After a bit of checking around, it appears that Samsung customer service is a full-on nightmare.
Well, I'm not going to complain to Samsung about their Orwell smart TV feature. I'm going to ream Costco's corporate customer service about why they sold this to me or allow it.
And note to Samsung--I like Korean products and their overall quality, but you are now off my list for that new washer/dryer, fuck you very much.