‘Unprecedented opportunities for surveillance and manipulation’: New report calls smart TVs and streaming services a ‘Trojan horse’ and urges government action
Your smart TV is a ‘privacy nightmare’, claims a new report, suggesting the streaming industry has created a sinister surveillance system that is undermining our privacy and also our consumer protections. This is evident from a damning 48-page report from the Center For Digital Democracy (CDD), which was passed on to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the report, the price of streaming is not only due to the increasingly higher subscription costs. It is in its “connected television media and marketing system with unprecedented opportunities for surveillance and manipulation.” And thanks to AI, it’s about to get even worse.
What’s so sinister about streaming?
You can read the full PDF report herebut here are some of the key points. What the report calls “connected TV” is now the dominant way for U.S. consumers to watch TV, and it says the manufacturers and streamers have collectively “turned connected TVs into “an advanced monitoring, tracking and targeting device.”
The introduction to the report uses Tubi as an example. “Tubi’s fundamental business model is based on collecting rich and detailed information from its viewers” using advertising technology, and that technology can then be used to change what content is recommended to you and even what products are featured in your shows . And Tubi is far from alone in this: the report takes a detailed look at the technologies it says are being used by Disney+, Amazon, Netflix and many more of the top streaming services.
The CDD report says the streaming industry has “intentionally incorporated many of the data surveillance marketing practices that have long undermined privacy and consumer protections in the ‘older’ world of social media, search engines, cell phones and video services… millions of Americans are forced to accept unfair terms to access video programs, which threatens their privacy and can also limit access to the information, including the quality of the content itself.”
The report paints a bleak picture and the CDD wants the US government to take action. In particular it wants:
- Robust privacy protection
- Digital marketing safeguards related to politics, health and children
- Regulation of anti-competitive and monopolistic behavior
The CDD has written to the FTC, FCC, California Attorney General and CPPA demanding an investigation into the U.S. connected TV industry. If you’re cynical, the size of the companies involved and the size of their political donations may make such an investigation unlikely — and the outcome of the presidential election may make an investigation even less likely. However, it is clear that effectively self-regulating such a huge and influential industry may not be the best way to protect our privacy or save us from corporate misconduct. You only have to look at the many lawsuits that companies like Google are facing to see that.
Should this stop you from buying the best TVs today, all of which are smart and connected? Well, you don’t have many options. Unless you want to use a simple PC monitor to watch TV, everything is prepared for the new world of data collection. You could step up to one of the best projectors and the best 4K Blu-ray players to keep everything more offline, although due to their size they won’t suit everyone – and you won’t be able to get them for the same cheap price as the current TVs.
As is often the case, we don’t have as much choice on the market as you might think, considering how many TVs are available.