Should we be scared of our television? Welcome to the modern day panopticon.

a reply to: cuckooold

In all honesty, this is becoming down right evil. The intentions to "better serve you" through targeting your personal data is extremely dangerous. Not just because some governmental agency will learn more about you, rather the fact that all this data is transferred through the internet.

How long will it take someone to start intercepting all your personal data? Hijack your television and use it's voice recognition feature to start listening to all your private conversations? Blackmail comes to mind here.

I rarely trust sending any personal information via the internet (or any means with the exception of personal delivery really), especially if I don't know if A) the information is encrypted and B) what sort of encryption is being used.

Thankfully, I don't watch TV. I own a couple, but they're not connected to cable. (Just never bothered.) All they are to me is a bigger screen for my computer.

Im using my tablet with 2 black sticky tapes over both cameras.
To me thats not paranoid its sensible. If they want to spy on me they cant. If i didnt have tape and they wanted to spy on me they can do it in real time. Nothing creeps me out more than feeling like im being watched as i read this or any other site. I care more about that and their creepy software analysing the muscles and eye movements in my face than i do about them knowing what i read or what i write.

Edit: And by "they" i mean anyone. Corporations are after data nowdays that most people have no idea even exists. What was described by Orwell in 1948 when he wrote 1984, pales in comparison to what we have now. Governments and corporations are looting us of our privacy on an unprecedent scale.

a reply to: grandmakdw

As far as the AI portion goes, I know that they developed a program a few years ago to use in airports that counted the number of blinks a person does while walking through the airport. When someone is agitated/nervous, they blink more and it uses that to flag potentially issues in airports. That's been in use for several years.

As far as predicting crime on the street, I believe it was the LAPD that was testing out such a program. Yep--LAPD indeed tested out a crime prediction software in 2012:

egis3.lacounty.gov...

When I saw articles about so-called "Smart" tvs being designed, I went out and bought a new television. Hopefully it'll last us for our light use (games and the occasional dvd movie) for years to come.

As far as the growing panopticon goes, there is even a patent for biometric devices, including facial recognition, for grocery store shelves and that patent was approved in 2008. When that starts occurring, if it does, I don't know but IBM holds that one. **This program also claims to be predictive as well as able to target customers discriminately based on a risk assessment software.

www.google.com...

Panopticon indeed. Person of Interest is a good comparison but I think Minority Report is even more applicable for what we have currently sans the psychic people. They are most definitely trying to develop crime predictive software so pre-crime might be a reality someday. I sure hope to hell not but you know how far will be gone to assure national security...

a reply to: Auricom

How long will it take someone to start intercepting all your personal data? Hijack your television and use it's voice recognition feature to start listening to all your private conversations? Blackmail comes to mind here.

Hacking intercepts are the least of it. Big data is sold over and over countless times to goodness knows who, and its being given away by the users, who simply open their front doors to government and corporate espionage, either out of apathy or ignorance.

Ransom hacks are my biggest worry. It wont be long before governments agencies start using these as tools for gagging & censorship. The future looks and feels very bleak at the minute.

a reply to: funkadeliaaaa

And you fear your drug business, or human trafficking company, are in danger? Or why is your future so "bleak"?
If someone wants to watch me poop, you're welcome, but it isn't pretty.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: funkadeliaaaa

And you fear your drug business, or human trafficking company, are in danger? Or why is your future so "bleak"?
If someone wants to watch me poop, you're welcome, but it isn't pretty.

One doesn't have to be a criminal to be concerned about their privacy--particularly in their homes. If there is no place where we can relax without feeling observed on this planet, then would we even remotely be considered to be free at all? If your tv had a camera on it and was "on" at all times, how comfortable would you be to take a jaunt downstairs scantily clothed in the am? Or how about a make out session on the couch? Would you really want an all seeing eye of a camera on your television then?

I can think of a whole lot of circumstances where people wouldn't be so down with having an extra eyeball in the room that does not entail criminality being involved at all.

And the beauty of these things like Smart tvs and their other similar oxymoron ilk is that, while we may not entirely have that much authority against governmental predations of privacy at this point (once Pandora's box is open, it is very hard to close), not so with companies whose very existence relies on their consumers' continuing to purchase from them. Xbox1 came under a lot of fire for its always on eyeball in the living room and it did impact its sales. PS4, which did not have those things, stomped it. I sure as hell am not going to spend some extra money so I can have my privacy potentially violated by some random corporation in my own family room.

The all knowing and constant recording TV is a scary concept. As you noted, there is something like this is in every home in 1984, and people have to put an act on even in their own homes.

Couple more panopticon-like patents retail patents from the same guys as the above one. These guys also worked on national security patents for airports, btw, so these patents are an interesting look at what could have been created in terms of a risk assessing AI for governmental use.

Filed 2007, Published 2014, IBM: Generating a customer risk assessment using dynamic customer data: www.google.com...

Filed 2007, Published 2014, IBM: Generating customized disincentive marketing content for a customer based on customer risk assessment www.google.com...

Just a question, how many of you are afraid of being the victim of a crime? And even worse, unable to prove you were?
And why do you have to put an act on? Is your true self so horrible you have to hide it?
I would worry, if I would feel controlled, but just watching? I seriously don't feel a)that interesting, and b) like it disrupts my daily life.
And that's from someone who is watched for sure and was/is considered an enemy of the public peace and a possible political threat. Also I feel slightly paranoid and am still cracking jokes for the ones watching, poor fellows are at work and have to watch me smoke weed, masturbate and listen to my drunken death wish swearings.... Hope they get at least paid well

Technology gets better and better.... so if you're female and are being attacked by a serial killer and dont have a gun or phone you can yell at your tv HELP and help with be on its way.

And then when its all over the tv will put on a special episode of opera just for you. That's awesome....

a reply to: Peeple

My fear of being the victim of a crime is pretty low actually. I'm smart, steer clear of questionable areas and tend to keep a constant vigilant eye on any setting that I'm in as I am actually hyper vigilant due to PTSD. If you can't prey upon the fear of someone who has already been a victim of a violent crime to the extent of developing PTSD, I'd say you're fighting a losing battle.

I'm actually not a horrible person as you'd like to allude. However, just because I don't want a camera on my tv watching what's happening in my living room, doesn't make me one. I just prefer to have those moments when I feel like messing around with my fiance on the couch to remain private and intimate without a potential third party observer. If that's criminal and horrible in your book, sorry to deprive you of your future smut.

PS. Peeple...it's pretty daft to suggest that the primary reason why a television manufacturer would want to put a camera in a home as somehow being a crime-fighting tool. That is pretty hilariously naive. Third party data tracking is a huge industry. The majority of the information that gets compiled by an user online is actually used for marketing purposes and it actually also applies to other devices such as phones. While the data does tend to be "anonymized", it's still being collected and some company is making a profit of these kind of intrusions and tracking. I can of find that distasteful that our "anonymized" information collected through a variety of devices, frequently without a whole lot of knowledge, is being used to line some jerk's pockets.

This isn't for crime. It's for profit and I find that even more distasteful than at least pretending to have a noble purpose.

www.economist.com...

For the second time in 24 hours - in two separate contexts - I find myself confronted with the highly unusual word "panopticon". Just looked it up yesterday. Weird.

Easy way round that-just don't buy the appliance.Even just owning a BB ,or any cell at all is propably unwise but I'm a parent who needs to keep in touch cheaply with my teenage daughter when she's not home-which a BB makes possible for 60 bucks a month-it bypasses the need to make expensive calls or texts,through the very affordable BBM network.It's also basically my pc,I'm writing this on my BB.

The choice is still ours,no one is putting a gun to our heads yet,to buy or take receipt of any piece of tech we don't want.We have an old tv,which I watch less than 1 hour a month of,lately,at a time I went for a year+a half without watching a single minute.There's really not much on,that does'nt offend a thinking,intelligent,aware person so much that it's like Hostel-style torture.Sometimes weeks go by in which I don't even enter my lounge except to open the front door for some fresh air.If it was'nt for my kids,I most certainly would'nt even have had one.

But it's not just TV,we don't Have to buy or own any piece of tech or appliance we don't want to.We're propably being watched in some way,but there's no need to pay for yet more ways to facilitate the spying,especially not re something like the idiot box.a reply to: cuckooold

originally posted by: Raxoxane

But it's not just TV,we don't Have to buy or own any piece of tech or appliance we don't want to.We're propably being watched in some way,but there's no need to pay for yet more ways to facilitate the spying,especially not re something like the idiot box.a reply to: cuckooold

We are not 'probably' being watched, we absolutely are, unless you live on an isolated property off the grid, and even then, who knows?

I do not own a TV, but I do own phones and computers that while not essential to my life, certainly make it more convenient. Most modern cars have GPS built in, and some newer models can have new software directly uploaded from the manufacturer. How long before this can be done remotely? How long before some sensor in your car tells you to keep your eyes on the road? Fine, maybe you should watch the road, but would you feel comfortable with not being paid out an insurance claim because some biometric computer suggests your heartbeat was too high.

www.technologyreview.com...

Software is rapidly taking over not only the entertainment console in cars, but also basic functions such as steering, braking, and acceleration, as more cars come with features such as adaptive cruise control and automated parallel parking. This can make it easier to diagnose and fix problems, but it also increases the risk for software bugs or even malicious attacks that might cause serious injury.

A big problem I see is that so many internet connected devices are being built with no oversight, and very limited security. Does anybody think if the CIA or NSA have the power or opportunity to get your data, they're not going to use it?

Unless one is prepared to live in a pre 1990s technology world, the system is far too pervasive to 'opt out' from, and it's only going to become more and more entrenched in our lives.

a reply to: nukedog

Now I'm reminded of how Steve Jobs believed in restricting his children from things like tablets.

I wonder if he knew something?

johnny depp apparently doesn't want his kids watching TV
at least that's what he said on the david letterman show..
..he didn't elaborate further
(there are other shillebrities who say similar things)
(i think they know something, yeah)

a reply to: Peeple

..i could swear this is angelina jolie's character from "girl interrupted"?
decent flick, a person could actually learn a thing or two from it

originally posted by: Firefly_
I don't own a TV or a smart phone (or any so-called smart electronics), and have no intention of ever doing so.

Except, you know.. the whole computer thing, the most heavily monitored and guided of the smart electronics.

I could be a government puppet in cyberspace and not even be aware of it. I could be programmed to tell you this.

I could only wish obtaining privacy were that easy as simply not buying a smartphone or television. (I don't own one anyway, but that's out of disinterest)

But yeah, don't underestimate what smartphones do. A journalist once tried to track of several smartphone apps what they actually have access to on your phone, what they do with it, where they send the info and how much you, as a user, can know about this.

Nothing. It's extremely secretive but he found out that they gather a LOT of data from you and also access things such as your photo gallery etc.

That's bad enough on itself, but wouldn't it be great if not owning a smartphone or ''smart tv'' would stop your privacy being infringed upon? Sadly though, we all need to go to great lengths if we want to ensure we know what outsiders know. You shouldn't own a computer, any mobile device and should just live in a remote cabin in a huge wood, like in fairytales where you need to hide someway from the evil witch that wants to eat you, the government in the shape of your horrible stepmom or wizards or whatever.

Not only for consumer interests.
If not already, this always on technology, could be linked nationwide with the key word search system that was initially placed on our phones. So that a person standing near any of these devices tripping off a bunch of listed words of interest is immediately sent with the IP address to the authorities.

This would create a society where the general population would have to become careful and factual over what said.

You could be sitting with grandma over tea , passionately describing the great spy movie you watched while the swat team is pounding through the front door.