Register

    Samsung reveals potential for smart TVs to eavesdrop

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments646 Views
    Kim Hyun-seok, head of Samsung Electronics' TV business, poses with its SUHD 4K TV during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. (Ahn Young-joon)

    By Youkyung Lee, Technology Writer

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --

    Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung's smart TV could be listening. And sharing.

    Voice recognition technology in the South Korean company's Internet connected TVs can capture and transmit nearby conversations.

    The potential for TVs to eavesdrop is revealed in Samsung's smart TV privacy policy available on its website.

    "Please be aware that if your spoken works include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition," the policy said.

    For the voice command feature to work, third party software translates speech into text and sends the command back to the TV.

    Users can give commands to the TV's built-in microphone such as "find me an action movie," which causes the TV to search as instructed. As the TV collects voice commands, it also transmits other information as its individual ID.

    Samsung said data collection is aimed at improving TV performance but users can disable it.

    It is not the first time that smart TVs sparked privacy concerns. In 2013, a user revealed that LG Electronics smart TV was sending information about his viewing habits back to the company without consent and without encrypting data.

    LG has also experimented with displaying targeted ads on its smart TVs, which requires collecting and utilizing user data, such as their location, age and gender.

    Tags:Samsung



    DirecTV calls off acquisition of rival Dish, possibly ending a yearslong pursuit

    Friday, November 22, 2024
    Dish Network satellite dishes are shown at an apartment complex in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

    DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company.

    The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them about $1.6 billion, collectively.

    The retreat by DirecTV this week may end a years-long effort by the company to acquire both Dish and Sling after it announced the bid in September.

    DirecTV was looking to acquire Dish TV and Sling TV from its owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that included a payment of $1, plus the assumption of approximately $9.8 billion in debt. The deal was contingent on several factors, including regulatory approvals and bondholders writing off debt related to Dish.

    "While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefited all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed exchange terms were necessary to protect DirecTV's balance sheet and our operational flexibility," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.

    The prospect of a DirecTV-Dish combo has long been rumored, and reported talks resurfaced over the years. And the two almost merged more than two decades ago — but the Federal Communications Commission blocked the deal valued at the time at $18.5 billion deal, citing antitrust concerns.

    The pay-for-TV market has shifted significantly since. As more and more consumers tune into online streaming platforms, demand for more traditional satellite entertainment continues to shrink.

    DirecTV says that it will continue to invest in next-generation streaming platforms and offer new packaging options while integrating content from live TV alongside direct-to-consumer... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment