Your behavior, interests, and other information are no longer confidential, they are all monitored by your smart TV which is spying on you with the aim of targeting you with appropriate advertisements.
As all TVs become smart and connect to the internet through the router, they also gain the ability to watch you.
Once turned on, smart TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, and other well-known brands collect data from the TV itself, as well as from the operating system and apps.
Also, there are devices you connect to your TVs, such as Google’s Chromecast, Apple TV, and Amazon’s Fire Stick.
TV is no longer just a device to show you content, it has become a two-way mirror, it also allows you to be monitored by a network of advertisers and data brokers, revealed Rowena Fielding, director of data protection consulting at Miss IG Geek.
What does your TV do with the data?
The data collected by the Smart TV depends on the manufacturer, brand, and version.
In theory, most smart TVs are incapable of collecting audio, video, and TV usage data, says Toby Lewis, global head of threat analysis at cybersecurity firm Darktrace.
He explained that what is done with the data is complex and very ambiguous, noting that most brands claim to use it to improve the quality of content, pointing out that it is common to sell this type of data to third parties, advertising companies, or broadcasting services.
Furthermore, he added that after the sale, the data becomes beyond the manufacturer’s control and that the data sent is often vague and unknown, as it depends on the terms and conditions and privacy settings, and it can be very difficult to change the default settings once accepted.
How do you protect yourself?
Smart TVs will collect data as long as they are connected to the internet and you cannot prevent this from happening completely, in many cases it is not in your best interest to do this because it will affect your viewing experience, especially since all applications rely on the internet like Netflix.
However, there are some basic measures you can take to protect yourself from smart TV spying.
For example, disable ACR in settings, disable personalization, disable all advertising features, and cover or disable cameras and microphones.
It is also important to make sure that the router is protected by changing the password and configuring the guest network.
Also, you can improve security by turning off tracking “web”(web tracking) when it is introduced and updating the software as soon as software updates become available).
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