[Saweeep]

Samsung is warning customers to avoid discussing personal information in front of their smart television set.

Such TV sets 'listen' to every conversation held in front of them and may share any details they hear with Samsung or third parties, it said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31296188

Quote:

Samsung is warning customers about discussing personal information in front of their smart television set.

The warning applies to TV viewers who control their Samsung Smart TV using its voice activation feature.

When the feature is active, such TV sets "listen" to what is said and may share what they hear with Samsung or third parties, it said.

Privacy campaigners said the technology smacked of the telescreens, in George Orwell's 1984, which spied on citizens.

Data sharing
The warning came to light via a story in online news magazine the Daily Beast which published an excerpt of a section of Samsung's privacy policy for its net-connected Smart TV sets. These record what is said when a button on a remote control is pressed.

Snowden said something similar about iphones - most people thought he was being paranoid, but perhaps not.

"iPhone has secret software that can be remotely activated to spy on people, says Snowden"

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/...91754.html

The Register's analysis is also interesting:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/09/...rt_tellie/

Quote:

Samsung's smart TVs don't just respond to your spoken commands – they also tell unspecified third parties what you're saying while you sit in front of them.

Sharp-eyed folks have spotted Samsung's confession to that this effect in the UK privacy policy for its SmartTV range. The section on voice recognition kicks off with the anodyne: “To provide you the Voice Recognition feature, some voice commands may be transmitted (along with information about your device, including device identifiers) to a third-party service that converts speech to text or to the extent necessary to provide the Voice Recognition features to you.”

So far, so mostly-reasonable: if a telly had enough CPU grunt to do voice recognition it could push the price into nasty territory. A cloud-assist feature is icky, but not terrifying, not least because bigger samples will probably make for bigger improvements in voice recognition.

Next comes the admission that “In addition, Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features.”

That's far less comfortable, as it suggests Samsung can identify individuals. If it's matching MAC addresses, that's not terrifying. If it depends on logins … yikes! Samsung can identify you and the stuff you say to your tellie!

It gets worse in this final sentence:

Please be aware that if your spoken words 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.
Which is downright nasty, as it suggests that if you use internet banking on my Samsung tellie and speak the password, the Korean company and/or its service providers have a record of you intoning “123456” on a regular basis. Assuming you're one of many using the world's dumbest password.

And let's not even begin to ponder how the sets' cameras and fitness services might use that data, or the conclusions they would draw, if a program moves to amorous activity on the sofa.

Worse still, this all happens even if you don't turn voice recognition on, as Samsung says: “If you do not enable Voice Recognition, you will not be able to use interactive voice recognition features, although you may be able to control your TV using certain predefined voice commands. While Samsung will not collect your spoken word, Samsung may still collect associated texts and other usage data so that we can evaluate the performance of the feature and improve it.”

Samsung's responded to widespread discussion of its privacy policy be insisting the data it collects is encrypted and cannot be accessed or used by unauthorised parties.

But of course Anthem Healthcare, Target, Sony (Pictures entertainment and the Playstation arm) and myriad others have all made similar pledges about the effectiveness of their security.

The SmartTV privacy policy also offers this piece of information:

You may disable Voice Recognition data collection at any time by visiting the 'settings' menu. However, this may prevent you from using all of the Voice Recognition features.”
What's that you say? Getting up and finding the remote sounds like a splendid idea?

It sure does. And hey - while you're up ... ®

CCTV in everyone's homes is one of those Orwellian nightmares that folks often mention; looks like it may finally be coming true

But, if you've got nothing to hide...

[Suits]

I thought that this title was of the tinfoil hat variety until I read the article and went like this:



I don't own a TV, because I think what comes out of them is bad enough.

Although I don't believe that TV content is designed by some elite super-human race that secretly controls society by having movie stars and celebrities makes super-secret "inner-circle" signs of the Illuminati, it is without a fact true that TV program is all about turning us into ideal consumers who spend more on garbage we don't need.

That's scary enough.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

(02-10-2015 04:01 AM)Suits Wrote:  

I thought that this title was of the tinfoil hat variety until I read the article and went like this:
...

Conspiracy theorists and tinfoil-hat people are great terms to discredit all dissenters of the government and the corporate world. Also it's incredibly easy to let out some fake crazy reports and even fake insiders to put everyone in a bad light.

It is always funny how many so-called conspiracies are proven right again and again. The matrix is constructed so well that even when you meet someone who just attained his knowledge by studying hard facts, studies, and elite-level statements - well even that person is viewed in the same light as someone debating whether the moon landing happened or whether we are controlled by Alien shape-shifters. If you want to discredit a group you just mix the genius level college professor who studies real stuff with the crazy bastard who is questioning the very ass he sits at.

Even here you have plenty of guys dismissing major points just because it does not fit their indoctrination state. Misogynist - discussion finished! Conspiracy theorist - discussion finished!

Then along comes state-approved Snowden and a few things are suddenly believed.

[Mage]

It's kinda of redundant to worry about TV spying if you carry a microphone that constantly communicates with satellite and tower network with you, everywhere you go, in your pocket.

Of course don't buy a TV with a microphone or a camera, even better don't own a TV at all, but if you really care about your privacy then don't forget about your phone.

[Kitsune]

lol.

I'm sure that there is something to this, but imagine the investment it would take to make this espionage useful: audio isn't that great a medium for spying on people, because audio recognition simply isn't good enough yet, and you'd have to trawl through millions of hours of conversation which means absolutely zero out of context.

Most people simply wouldn't ever require that level of detail; not when everyone uses text based services like SMS, Facebook, Twitter and the like. Language Processing can handle text a lot better than it can audio.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

(02-10-2015 07:04 AM)Kitsune Wrote:  

lol.

I'm sure that there is something to this, but imagine the investment it would take to make this espionage useful: audio isn't that great a medium for spying on people, because audio recognition simply isn't good enough yet, and you'd have to trawl through millions of hours of conversation which means absolutely zero out of context.

Most people simply wouldn't ever require that level of detail; not when everyone uses text based services like SMS, Facebook, Twitter and the like. Language Processing can handle text a lot better than it can audio.

No one needs to trawl through your individual data on a case by case basis unless your job is prime-minister, president, high-level general or live TV journalist.

Most people are simply data-mined, all information saved and long-term social programs can be deliberately adjusted as you know how the population reacts to certain topics. If the sheep don't react to certain things significantly enough, then you can continue with the next point on the agenda. Consider it as a perfect instant-polling tool. Unless you reach some higher level of power you are not important enough individually in terms of surveillance, but the paranoid would prefer to have cameras installed in your rooms as in 1984 - well I guess George Orwell was right:



It's good that we can switch it off as of now.

[Zep]

(02-10-2015 04:18 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Conspiracy theorists and tinfoil-hat people are great terms to discredit all dissenters of the government and the corporate world. Also it's incredibly easy to let out some fake crazy reports and even fake insiders to put everyone in a bad light.

It is always funny how many so-called conspiracies are proven right again and again.

Even here you have plenty of guys dismissing major points just because it does not fit their indoctrination state. Misogynist - discussion finished! Conspiracy theorist - discussion finished!

Then along comes state-approved Snowden and a few things are suddenly believed.

Great points. I looked for 'conspiracies that turned out to be true' and this came up http://list25.com/25-conspiracy-theories...o-be-true/

It's insulting to be dismissed as a 'conspiracy loon' just because someone's too lazy to think about motives and agendas.

[Aphex]

(02-10-2015 09:25 AM)Zep Wrote:  

Great points. I looked for 'conspiracies that turned out to be true' and this came up http://list25.com/25-conspiracy-theories...o-be-true/

It's insulting to be dismissed as a 'conspiracy loon' just because someone's too lazy to think about motives and agendas.

Lol, I didn't expect #1.

[Dusty]

In Ruuusssia , you don't watch tv, tv watches you!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_reversal

[kaotic]

Use a roku, apple tv, or media station (with Wi-FI), disable wi-fi on your TV, problem solved.

My TV is just a big monitor for my PC (where I stream everything from).

If you do have a smart TV disable all it's functions.

OR buy one without those features, smart TV software is becoming obsolete (if you're a bit tech savvy)

[MY DETROIT PLAYAS]

So this means I can talk all the shit I want in front of my old school floor model tv set right?...

[Michael P]

One should also wander why they are making this public. It could be that we inch by inch, get more used to the Police State.

If someone in 1985 (so electricity, people already traveled in space, computers, lasers -==- modern person) that people can hear all tap his phone, even when it will mobile in the future, that someone could see him through his computers camera and kick start the mobile phone mic even when you turn it off, he would call it TIRANNY.

But due tu incremental steps, heating up the water gradually, the frog does not jump out.

And we are a minority. Women are weak and beating the shit out of men, need a Nanny State and therefore would never object. And men that are socialist are also weak and want protection.

But it is IRON-ical that women who went apeshit about pictures of I don't know what actress that is maybe a 6-7 went online (one should consider her lucky, because she gets attention when she looks like that) but don't care that some NSA agents SWAP nude pictures they intercept and just the fact that without a COURT ORDER as the founding fathers INTENDED, a agency CAN search your private information.

P.S. Zelcorpion is 110% on the money, again, they mix a coupe of idiots, and give them media time with the person who spend 5 years doing reaserch and thus discredit the sane person. I wrote about this in my BA thesis:
Example: There will be a fiat curency collapse. One cannot say when, but THERE WILL BE. Taking some basic precautins, food, water and such is even in ideal times reasonable. But they are called preppers and National Geographic puts them in the same TV show with people that prepare also, but against ALIEN INVASIONS.

[N°6]

I first heard a so-called 'conspiracy theorist' in the 1990s say that future TVs would have monitoring devices in them.

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

I could have some fun with this.
Maybe rig a hidden music player in a hated coworkers apartment to play jihadi music when he's not home.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

Frankly this is nothing new:

http://www.wired.com/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/

If you think the TV will be spying on you - in the future it's essentially all your devices.

http://www.takebackyourpower.net/news/20...-admitted/

Smart Meters are funny devices - not only can they supervise your energy consumption finding out what you are doing in terms of devices, but the funny thing is that through frequencies they can simply calculate what you are watching.

Also there was an article I read in an Israeli newspaper (they have sometimes more candid reports there) that smart meters can send signals through the grid and essentially map what you are doing in 3D - more or less like a bat scanning the environment, but just using the electrical grid in the house. Can't find the link now.

But alas - what is the big surprise there really? If it's known about the internet, then why not via other devices? Nothing new really....

[Michael P]

The Government doesn’t need to bug our homes to keep us under surveillance. All they need to do is check our social media pages. And they do. Read more here: http://bit.ly/1IMTohe
The Government doesn’t need to bug our homes to keep us under surveillance. All they need to do is check our social media pages. And they do. Read more here:

Off The Grid: Social Media Surveillance

[YOS]

You shouldn't own a tv in the first place

[Tuthmosis]

Oh man, I hope this isn't true.

I, as a matter of routine, perform some of my most depraved, reprehensible acts on women right in front of my SAMSUNG BRAND "smart" TV.

[heavy]

(02-10-2015 01:50 PM)Michael P Wrote:  

One should also wander why they are making this public. It could be that we inch by inch, get more used to the Police State.

If someone in 1985 (so electricity, people already traveled in space, computers, lasers -==- modern person) that people can hear all tap his phone, even when it will mobile in the future, that someone could see him through his computers camera and kick start the mobile phone mic even when you turn it off, he would call it TIRANNY.

But due tu incremental steps, heating up the water gradually, the frog does not jump out.
...

It's not tyranny if they aren't using guns and force to get you to do things. It's a quite a stretch, though more accurate, to say welfare is tyranny, as men in guns will come to your house and throw you in jail if you don't fork over money for all those single moms, or to say public school is tyranny, as men in guns will come to your house and throw you in jail if you don't pay for the indoctrination of kids. I would say, specifically, when the federal government forces this on its citizens.

Your concern is misplaced, albeit valid.

You can choose to not buy Samsung. You can choose to watch an old tv. You can choose to use a flip phone.

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

I'm just going to work on developing martymachlia. That way, when Big Brother is watching my depravity, I'll just come harder.
I win.

[Michael P]

(02-10-2015 03:14 PM)heavy Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 01:50 PM)Michael P Wrote:  

One should also wander why they are making this public. It could be that we inch by inch, get more used to the Police State.

If someone in 1985 (so electricity, people already traveled in space, computers, lasers -==- modern person) that people can hear all tap his phone, even when it will mobile in the future, that someone could see him through his computers camera and kick start the mobile phone mic even when you turn it off, he would call it TIRANNY.

But due tu incremental steps, heating up the water gradually, the frog does not jump out.
...

It's not tyranny if they aren't using guns and force to get you to do things. It's a quite a stretch, though more accurate, to say welfare is tyranny, as men in guns will come to your house and throw you in jail if you don't fork over money for all those single moms, or to say public school is tyranny, as men in guns will come to your house and throw you in jail if you don't pay for the indoctrination of kids. I would say, specifically, when the federal government forces this on its citizens.

Your concern is misplaced, albeit valid.

You can choose to not buy Samsung. You can choose to watch an old tv. You can choose to use a flip phone.

I accept my use of the wrong word. Thank you for pointing that out to me.
On the examples I agree fully. It is tyranny for taxes and so forth.

I should have said it is a police state we need to opt-out from. Which is fucked up, that one needs TO TAKE some action. Alas that was not my main grievance. It is that this is becoming common place.

[la_mode]

This might be a reason to buy Samsung, considering they couldn't make a mousetrap that works correctly.

Things are getting a bit strange though with surveillance. Seems like every app you download wants to access absolutely everything in your smartphone. On facebook, for awhile now, you cannot make yourself hidden via search bar (you'd have to find a mutual friend with a public friend list to be found before or the person would have to know your direct facebook ID written like John.Doe1234). Here are just a few things I've noticed lately with facebook.

- "People you may know" is now displaying people who's pages you visited (even if you have no mutual friends)
- It continually prompts you to put in your hometown/current city/place of employment and tries to fill it in for you (it wasn't nearly this relentless in the past), so it makes it much easier to find you if you have a common name
- Posts of people who are not your friends show up on the facebook "Home" page, even if just one mutual friend
- Your newsfeed shows the activity of a friend of yours commenting or liking pics/updates on a page of someone who is not your friend
- Via your IP, they'll try to get you to "like" every sports team in a 100 mile radius
- They will ask you to input a phone number, just in case you "forget your password", and you can be searched via phone number if you give them that information (which they will constantly prompt you to input)
- Next to a person's name it shows some sort of tagline regarding their last status updates or shared links. Example "John Doe makes scrambled eggs/John Doe goes to Vegas".

The end game is to essentially cross-reference as much information as they can. The Hivemind is of course too concerned with whether or not Beyonce should have won the grammy to notice. There's probably some secret software at this point that shows the last TV show you watched, last pizza you ordered, favorite brand of popcorn, etc.

We've officially entered the matrix.

[Suits]

(02-10-2015 04:18 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Then along comes state-approved Snowden and a few things are suddenly believed.

If you needed Snowden to tell you that the government consistently spies on people, then I can see why "conspiracy theories" are so much fun for some people.

I was a little taken aback by the whole situation. I'd always assumed that the US government was spying on people all along.

If you want to talk conspiracy theories, let's talk about statements like this:

"Feminisms was specifically and intentionally funded and designed by the 'elite' to destabilize families and produce a global slave class of men."

Because, of course, just believing that people are retarded isn't good enough.

Quote:

Great points. I looked for 'conspiracies that turned out to be true' and this came up http://list25.com/25-conspiracy-theories...o-be-true/

It's insulting to be dismissed as a 'conspiracy loon' just because someone's too lazy to think about motives and agendas.

None of these are really conspiracy theories. They are all examples of things that any thinking person would reasonably expect.

[godfather dust]

I don't own a TV but really, that's the least of your concerns. Computers and your phone are worse.