These smart TVs were apparently spying on their owners

[PP Mguire]

This thread brings up a concern for me- I am just about ready to update to a "smart TV" or a "smart AVR" from my nearly 10 years old Visio wiht a 15 year old Sony AVR. Not so sure I even want to as I could just buy a Roku, or other device to use with my current TV making it a "smart TV". However, would that device/stick I buy just do the same thing? I hate the whole idea that "big brother" or whomever is "watching me".

Take a gander at the thread. It's just fear mongering. The only upload I have from any smart device in my house is Netflix overhead.

 

[acerinpa]

So are u saying the whole thing is made up? Or just Visio is doing it? Or only certain TV's or what?

 

[PP Mguire]

So are u saying the whole thing is made up? Or just Visio is doing it? Or only certain TV's or what?

The article is referencing paranoia behind data collection from these devices. The problem being the same people reading this **** are the ones that claim ignorant to how much MORE data is collected by the phones they are on, the social media they browse, etc. Basically the article references Vizio collecting viewing data from all input sources. If you have a Firestick, Chromecast, Roku, whatever it all does the same thing. It's all for targeted ads. It's not made up, it's just an article pushing fear mongering. Whenever you setup one of these things it literally asks for your zip code for a reason. In the end, you don't even need to connect your TV to an internet source for it to function so the article is moot as is most of the convo. You also don't need a "smart" device for most of the functionality either. I mean you could hook a PC up to your TV and have all the same stuff. Of course, that's collecting the same data so I don't see the point for all the paranoia.

 

[acerinpa]

True, but I guess there are levels of data collection.

 

[PP Mguire]

Sure but in this instance it's what you watch. The rest is alleged.