Samsung warns customers not to discuss personal information in front of smart TVs

According to this link, apparently Samsung has a warning hidden in the boilerplate that "If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature, voice data is provided to a third party during a requested voice command search." That third party has now been identified as "Nuance Communications, Inc."

What is unclear is if the audio is still being captured while the TV is on stand-by (which most people would assume to be the 'off' mode).

It is pertinent that we all are aware of the Alexa's, Cortana's, Siri's and other conveniences that are inbuilt into modern 'smart' electronics and their potential for misuse.

No matter how smart and hard to crack data security becomes, it can always be easily defeated by those with criminal intent (even government or corporate criminals).

It doesn't matter how 'hard' your encryption algorithm is if you can be encouraged to give up a password by being tied to a chair and beaten with a length of water pipe.

Stay wary guys!

Need to be careful if you have Xfinity Comcast cable service to it has that voice search built into the remote. I've also heard that OnStar in your car continues to listen as well.

a reply to: chr0naut

Ahhhh- the smell of Freedom.

I also wonder at the data security of the data stream itself?

Is the audio sent unencrypted and can it be easily intercepted?

What is the legality of actively capturing conversation where parties may be unaware that it is happening?

originally posted by: chr0naut
What is unclear is if the audio is still being captured while the TV is on stand-by (which most people would assume to be the 'off' mode).

If you can turn it on with your voice like you can with the xbox one, then yes it is always listening.

No its not encrypted, why would it be.

Yes its legal if you accept the term and conditions

Oh yeah sure, that'll be easy Samsung - never talk in front of anything that's connected to the Internet.

I can confirm OnStar. Even if you don't pay for the service. Best to cut the antenna.

a reply to: chr0naut

If it's Google tech then part of what it does is auto transcribes the voice to text. Makes for tiny files.

originally posted by: Inc_9x
Oh yeah sure, that'll be easy Samsung - never talk in front of anything that's connected to the Internet.

What isn't, these days?

I'll never buy a smart TV. I remember a couple years ago there was a big hubbub about the LG smart TV's that collected information on websites and videos you watched and sent them to a third party... the kicker was that even if you went through the options and turned off the data collection, it still collected the same data it just told you it wasn't.

originally posted by: Slanter
I'll never buy a smart TV. I remember a couple years ago there was a big hubbub about the LG smart TV's that collected information on websites and videos you watched and sent them to a third party... the kicker was that even if you went through the options and turned off the data collection, it still collected the same data it just told you it wasn't.

I remember that too.

Was there any legal fallout from it?

I would hope that the EFF would have pushed to get LG to update their code, or be prosecuted.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: chr0naut

If it's Google tech then part of what it does is auto transcribes the voice to text. Makes for tiny files.

Makes for tiny easily searchable files.

grep -i "I hate the government" voicecontrol.log

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: chr0naut

If it's Google tech then part of what it does is auto transcribes the voice to text. Makes for tiny files.

While I could see the advantage in that I do see an issue with the amount of CPU & memory required on most systems to achieve it on the client end (that being said, no doubt Google has access to some amazing kick-ass algorithms).

Could you please enlighten me a little on the process?

a reply to: chr0naut

Yes, that warning was issued some time ago, a few years maybe.there might even be a thread here on it somewhere, likely with a similar title. Sky was always pushing people to connect to their, 'interactive services' but they are at it again more recently with the TV/internet service combined pushing box sets of movies as a bait, while you still need that crucial internet connection.

There is also the MXQPRO box that you can get on the internet as a one off cost, not illegal in itself, but the use of could be, which gives hundreds of, perhaps thousands of different internet links to movies geared for worldwide, But even so I'm of the opinion that all this stuff is about information gathering in the main, who it's all for? everybody who's smart enough, including intel.

a reply to: smkymcnugget420

The terms and conditions get a lot of people in trouble because most of us do not have time to read 10 pages of small print.

Ahhh. the greatness of technology. My computer and monitor do not have cameras or microphones attached and not even a speaker. I do have speakers but they get turned off with my big toe.

I am smarter than the TV. Our cell phone is very old, not a smart phone or I phone or anything like that. The only thing that might be a security issue is the Kindle. You do have to make sure to hang up the land line cordless phone properly, it doesn't disconnect, and the other person can't call out. My daughter had a hard time getting me to hang it up one day, she started pressing keys to make noises so she could call out.

originally posted by: smurfy
a reply to: chr0naut

Yes, that warning was issued some time ago, a few years maybe.there might even be a thread here on it somewhere, likely with a similar title. Sky was always pushing people to connect to their, 'interactive services' but they are at it again more recently with the TV/internet service combined pushing box sets of movies as a bait.

Yes, to repeat my favorite post from another ATS member, something like:

"An open microphone to the internet in your house, what could possibly go wrong?"

This is common place for most if not all smart TV makers:

TV maker Vizio pays $2.2M to settle complaint that it spied on users

Popular smart TV maker Vizio will pay US $2.2 million to settle complaints that it violated customers' privacy by continuously monitoring their viewing habits without their knowledge.

Beginning in February 2014, the California TV maker tracked what TV shows customers were watching on 11 million TV sets sold in the U.S., the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General said in a complaint, released Monday.

Vizio smart TVs captured "second-by-second" information about video displayed, including video from consumer cable service, broadband, set-top boxes, DVDs, over-the-air broadcasts, and streaming devices, according to the complaint.

That squirmy little thing called consent!!

a reply to: chr0naut

This reminds me of the debacle with Microsoft and XBox.

I'll stick to my remotes, thank you.

And you would think the Man would step in and protect us, not build server farms in Utah.

We need an electronic privacy act yesterday.