Another major online privacy scandal has erupted, as big as the AVG scandal last September. This time, the protagonist and culprit of the scandal is Visio, a company that manufactures and sells Smart TVs.
According to the information, Visio collects all the data of the owners of its Smart TVs and then sells it to online advertisers. This allows them to create more targeted advertisements on the users' other devices, e.g. on their mobile, tablet or PC.
Visio spies on everything you watch on your TV! It collects information about what shows users watch, what time and what day, what channel they prefer and links it to each user's IP address. This information is then sold to online advertising platforms, which already have databases of users' IP addresses from other media.
Legally, Visio is covered by its terms of service, which state that non-personal information can be shared with select partners. The terms also include an interactivity that users can disable so that their information is not shared, but it's a detail that users often overlook.
Unfortunately, UK law does not prohibit Visio from doing this. The law prohibits cable TV and video rental companies from doing this, but there are no similar laws regarding Internet- or electronics manufacturers.
In fact, Google itself pioneered the practice of collecting information from its users without giving them a choice. Facebook does something similar through its Like and Share features, and recently faced charges in Belgium, where it has been specifically ordered by a court to stop doing so without users' consent.
Perhaps one explanation for Visio's actions is the shelved IPO. Finding an alternative revenue stream boosts its stock price. However, Visio seems to be self-destructive and is destroying its reputation for the sake of revenue.
