They collect data from the programs we watch and then serve us related advertisements – «Easy» the installation of physical surveillance systems
Could it be that they're not only «smart» but also cunning? The reason for the new‑generation televisions that truly changed our daily life forever. Almost every home has at least one, and most people spend a lot of time in front of the screen of the so‑called smart TV, i.e., televisions that connect to the Internet and offer various applications.
The «smart» TVs are simultaneously «evil», as according to the News, they collect information about users and send it to manufacturers. How does this happen? From the programs that users watch, to the files that have been stored on USBs connected to the TV.
The experts, according to the report of the Young, point out that installing physical monitoring systems is very easy, resulting not only in us watching television but also it, in turn, watching us!
Indeed, a few days ago the British IT specialist, Jason Huntley, discovered that the flat-screen LG TV he bought this summer was... watching him. What sparked his curiosity was when the main screen started displaying specific ads, such as for cars and cooking cubes, which were based on the TV shows he had just watched.
After that, Huntley decided to record the data that the device was sending and receiving, using his portable computer as «mediator» between his «smart» television and the connection he had to the Internet. Thus, he discovered that the information for each program he watched was being logged, as well as every button he pressed on the remote control. Subsequently, all this data was sent to LG's headquarters in South Korea!
Among the data that Huntley's TV sent to the manufacturers were the contents of its private video library, even the video it had recorded from family celebrations with his wife and their two small children. The most concerning thing is that the device continued to send this information even when the user selected from the menu that they do not want their TV to collect data. It is worth noting that this feature was enabled by default, without the user's consent.
«The best advertising experience you have ever dreamed of»…
The story of the British Jason Huntley brought to light an entire surveillance circuit.
LG itself, in a video to its customers, said that the information its TV devices harvest about the owners' habits is used to provide «the best advertising experience you have ever dreamed of». In other words, the South Korean tech giant admitted that it was monitoring its customers!
«The protection of our customers' privacy is of the utmost priority», LG claims, however, removing the controversial video from its website at the same time.
But it was too late, as the issue had already taken on a large scale with the British media turning their arrows toward the South Korean company. Eventually LG admitted the fact revealed by Huntley and claimed that it would issue a software update for its televisions to fix the problem that has arisen.
However, the scandal caused the intervention of the British Data Protection Authority, which is conducting an urgent investigation.
Later it emerged that Sony's PlayStation consoles also collect data from every Blu-ray disc they play. At the same time, many were those who expressed the fear that similar practices are also followed by other smart device manufacturers.
«Tsunami» of revelations
After the massive scale the Huntley case reached, recently a computer programmer from Malta, Luigi Oriema, proved that it is extremely easy to compromise various types of “smart» televisions and Samsung’s. Specifically, according to the News, by going online he was able to control them. In particular, he turned them on and off and could see all the data about the user’s television habits.
However, other experts like Oriema discovered that they can gain access to the cameras embedded in “smart” televisions and thus have a security system, but also spy on other users!
One of them, Kurt Stamberger, continue the News, an executive of the computer security company, Mocana, who performed a series of «penetration tests» on such devices, reported: «Not only were we able to see what programs someone sees, but we could also install monitoring software that would allow us, if there were a webcam, to see through it the people without the “on” light being activated».
However, this knowledge has also reached gangs that operate mainly in Eastern Europe and Russia, which use the so-called «data mining programs» searching the Internet for smart TVs, whose owners have recorded their credit-card details…
Source: protothema.gr
