# Lifestyles & Discussion > Privacy & Data Security >  Watch What You Say In Front Of Our TVs, They're Sending Your Words to Third Parties

## DamianTV

http://boingboing.net/2015/02/06/sam...ou-say-in.html
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/c...ease_be_aware/
https://www.samsung.com/uk/info/privacy-SmartTV.html




> Part of the Samsung Smarttv EULA: "*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.*"
> 
> This is part of their speech-recognition tech, which uses third parties (whose privacy policies Samsung doesn't make any representations about) to turn your words into text.


"By taking a dump in your own toilet, you hereby agree to allow Company X and all Third Parties in affiliation with Company X to monitor every aspect of your personal lives.  You must agree to our Terms of Service to pich a loaf."

*Every aspect of who you are and what you do becomes Subject to the Approval of everyone with access to that Data enabled by the utter Invasion of your Privacy.*

---

Edit: Update

*Samsung lied -- its smart TV is indeed spying on you and it is doing nothing to stop that*
http://betanews.com/2015/02/19/samsu...-to-stop-that/




> ...
> 
> 
> 
> But now we're learning that the data which Samsung gleans from its Smart TVs is not encrypted. Ken Munro and David Lodge, from the London-based Pen Test Partners tested one of Samsung’s smart TVs to discover that the TV was uploading audio files in an unencrypted form. The finding further reveals that a transcribed copy of what had been said when beamed back to the TV (letting the TV act on the commands) was also in an unencrypted form for any hacker to decode.
> 
> "Intercepting those communications could be done over wi-fi by neighbours and/or hackers outside your house, if you use the wireless feature of the TV to hook up to the internet", tells Mr. Munro to BBC. "It could also be carried out by your ISP, and by anyone else that has access to internet backbones. I'm thinking governments, law enforcement. This is an easy problem to solve. The communications should be encrypted using SSL just like other sensitive internet communications are".
> 
> Samsung has yet again acknowledged the issue and assures that it plans to fix it soon. "Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind", the company said in a statement.
> ...


They might encrypt the datat to create a False Sense of Security, but it isnt the Hackers you need to worry about, its everyone else that is still allowed access to that data!  Hey look!  Its 4:20 o'clock, time to smoke a bowl!  Hold on, there is someone knocking on my front door very loudly...

----------


## heavenlyboy34

SCOTUS says you don't have a right to privacy.  Watcha gonna do about it, mundane?

----------


## thoughtomator

> SCOTUS says you don't have a right to privacy.  Watcha gonna do about it, mundane?


not have a TV

----------


## willwash

From Wikipedia




> Telescreens are fictional devices which operate as both televisions and security cameras. They feature in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as well as all film adaptations of the novel. In the novel and its adaptations, telescreens are used by the ruling Party in Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania.


Don't know how to strikethrough, but I think the word "fictional" can go now.

----------


## Anti Federalist

> From Wikipedia
> 
> Don't know how to strikethrough, but I think the word "fictional" can go now.


Telescreens *are* fictional devices which operate as both televisions and security cameras. 

They feature in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as well as all film adaptations of the novel. 

In the novel and its adaptations, Telescreens *are* used by the ruling Party in Oceania AmeriKa to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania AmeriKa.

----------


## heavenlyboy34

> not have a TV


 Nice!  That's what I do.  Hopefully they don't turn my computer monitor into a mini telescreen. :/

----------


## DamianTV

> not have a TV


Most people will simply choose to replace TV with Internet, where there is just as much surveillance, if not more so.

Another alternative needs to happen.  I'd say the same thing as AF says about computerized cars, where the problem is that control is taken away from the owner of the car, but the problem is not the car itself.  These Spy TVs need to have the technical ability to monitor you completely disabled.  I dont think it will be very long before Mandatory Viewing of Propoganda results.  At the same time, there can be 90 channels, or 90,000 channels, if the message is the same on EVERY channel, Propoganda, the result is the same as making it Mandatory while retaining the Illusion that there are different points of view that are broadcast on any one of the channels.  Every single expressed idea varies in the context in which it is presented while maintaining the idea itself, you need Controllers to tell you what to think.

Monopoly of Belief = Ministry of Truth

AF, care to take a stab at Orwell's 1984 in each Ministry and compare them to the Monopolies of Belief, Money, and Violence?

----------


## Anti Federalist

> Nice!  That's what I do.  Hopefully they don't turn my computer monitor into a mini telescreen. :/


Agreed, TV is mostly a wasteland, but why should *WE* deprive ourselves of anything just to stay one step ahread of Big Brother?
Even something as vapid and idiotic as TV.

Not. A. Free. Country.

----------


## DamianTV

*sigh*

Not a difficult technology to defeat.  Dont plug your TV into the $#@!ing Internet, or the Internet of Things.  Then it will be just Propoganda without the Surveillance, which Boobus will gladly swallow.

----------


## Anti Federalist

> *sigh*
> 
> Not a difficult technology to defeat.  Dont plug your TV into the $#@!ing Internet, or the Internet of Things.  Then it will be just Propoganda without the Surveillance, which Boobus will gladly swallow.


Is it?

With data transfers that can be done through cable, digital wireless, internet or even the power supply?

----------


## Anti Federalist

> AF, care to take a stab at Orwell's 1984 in each Ministry and compare them to the Monopolies of Belief, Money, and Violence?


Love to, except for the fact that I'm pretty busy at the moment and kind of limited to one liners.

MiniPax = Pentagon.

MiniTru = MSM organs.

MiniLuv = The police/prison complex.

----------


## presence

> Telescreens *are* fictional devices which operate as both televisions and security cameras. 
> 
> They feature in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as well as all film adaptations of the novel. 
> 
> In the novel and its adaptations, Telescreens *are* used by the ruling Party in Oceania AmeriKa to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania AmeriKa.

----------


## DamianTV

> Is it?
> 
> With data transfers that can be done through cable, digital wireless, internet or even the power supply?


+Rep cuz youre paying atteintion!  Those that are not paranoid are not paying attenion!

Wireless = Internet, but home run on Power Supply, which makes me think that is what all of our "Smart Meters" are for!  Surveillance from EVERY electronic device!  And extended even further, what happens when your CELL PHONE listens to everything you say, even when not on a call and is also transmitted to "Third Parties"?  Upon rejection of Cell Phones, is that when Biometric Implants become mandatory?  The more I think about it, the more I sincerely believe we are living in our own Dystopian Future, and Fal the Future is.

----------


## CPUd

People shouldn't be operating these things if they don't at least have a basic knowledge of how they work.

----------


## DamianTV

> People shouldn't be operating these things if they don't at least have a basic knowledge of how they work.


I think that is exactly the point.  People shell out all sorts of money for phones they dont really understrand what makes them work, or microwave ovens they dont really understand, or comptuers they dont really understand, or facebook they dont really understand, or their Cable Boxes with Cameras they dont really understand, or why Satellite Providers (Dish Network / DirecTV) that "need" to be plugged into the internet they dont understand do not really need to be plugged into the internet, and when you finally get your internet ready fridge, they will not know why they are now paying more when they buy too much bacon, or their internet ready toilet (already exists as a "hands free" toilet) that tattles on them when illegal drugs or illegal flushing habits or illegal water usage are discovered.

These types of people are barely able to operate the machines they buy, but are not smart enough to question whether having internet / surveillance is really the best machine for the job.  Cars do not need to connect to the internet.  Toilets do not need to connect to the internet.  Fridges do not need to connect to the $#@!ing internet.

Fail the future has become.

Oh, and Cell Phones already "Listen" to "EVERYTHING" if you have a FEDBOOK APP installed.

----------


## CPUd

This is the new world that is going to happen whether you like it or not.  The only thing you really have control over is how you are going to live in it.

----------


## TheCount

The rest of the quote:




> "*If you enable Voice Recognition*, you can interact  with your Smart TV using your voice. 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. 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. 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."



Inb4thatsjustwhattheysayitsreallysendingallyourdat  atothensaallthetimebigbrotheraaaaaaaaahhhh

----------


## Anti Federalist

> This is the new world that is going to happen whether you like it or not.  The only thing you really have control over is how you are going to live in it.


What a relief.

Freedom and liberty is dead, and we can stop worrying about it.

Just relax and comply.

Thanks, comrade.

----------


## Anti Federalist

> The rest of the quote:
> 
> Inb4thatsjustwhattheysayitsreallysendingallyourdat  atothensaallthetimebigbrotheraaaaaaaaahhhh


No need to be "inb4".

I love Big Brother.

My comrades have shown me the error of my thinking.

My comrades have shown me that the future, is both glorious and inevitable.

----------


## Anti Federalist

From a CNET article on the subject:




> It's inevitable that the more data that we put out, the more will be recorded and the more will be known about us by machines which are in the charge of people.
> 
> We have all agreed to this. We click on "I agree" with no thought of consequences, only of our convenience.
> 
> *It isn't just your TV that will listen and record. Soon, it'll be everything that has a digital connection.
> 
> This is our digital bed. We lie in it willingly.*


No, it is NOT inevitable and I did NOT agree to this.

It's being foisted on me against my will.

I do not want an "internet of things".

I do not want 22 blimps under the dashboard of my car.

I do not want "smart appliances".

----------


## Suzanimal

> From a CNET article on the subject:
> 
> 
> 
> No, it is NOT inevitable and I did NOT agree to this.
> 
> It's being foisted on me against my will.
> 
> I do not want an "internet of things".
> ...


I believe Ed Snowden touched on this in Citizenfour when he talked about the VOIP phone in his hotel room.

----------


## CPUd

> I believe Ed Snowden touched on this in Citizenfour when he talked about the VOIP phone in his hotel room.


At the end, they were putting their phones in the fridge.  Some things they would not talk about, but write down and show each other and the camera.

----------


## TheTexan

It's just voice recognition.  What's to worry about?  It's not like companies regularly consume all this information with the explicit intent to monitor your behaviors, habits, acquaintances, age, gender, purchasing patterns, etc, or sell to third parties to do the same.

----------


## DamianTV

> It's just voice recognition.  What's to worry about?  It's not like companies regularly consume all this information with the explicit intent to monitor your behaviors, habits, acquaintances, age, gender, purchasing patterns, etc, or sell to third parties to do the same.


Except it is REQUIRED BY LAW




> However, when challenged by a blogger who called Samsung to find out more about the process, representatives seemed to be confused about the precise reason as to why voice data was being collected.
> 
> *“Is that what this is, are you complying with a federal court order to record what’s going on in my living room?”* asked Joe Fabeets, to which the Samsung representative responded, “Yes sir, exactly.”


Brave New 1984, and the TV that literally watches you is HERE.




EVERYTHING this 1984 TV sees and hears will be RECORDED.

----------


## TheTexan

> Except it is REQUIRED BY LAW
> 
> 
> 
> Brave New 1984, and the TV that literally watches you is HERE.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> EVERYTHING this 1984 TV sees and hears will be RECORDED.


Wow, that's pretty cool.  Should be a huge step forward for safety, anti-terrorism, and petty crime prosecution.  I love technology.

----------


## AuH20

I guess he was right. Mainstream news finally confirms. 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...basically.html

----------


## donnay

C'mon it was just a lucky guess on Alex's part.  <sarcasm>

----------


## Anti Federalist

I remember it well.

Yes, the "internet of things" will monitor everything you say and do inside your home.

Yes, the "smart meters" will report back not just how much energy you are using, but what is using it and when.

Yes, cops are manhandling people onto shackled stretchers and jabbing them with needles on the side of the road.

Yes, you are under total surveillance, the like of which the old Soviet Union could only dream of.

Yes, there are miniature "drones" shaped like insects that can be released for further surveillance of you.

Yes...it is really happening.

*And AmeriKunts love it and want more.*

----------


## Anti Federalist

I remember it well.

Yes, the "internet of things" will monitor everything you say and do inside your home.

Yes, the "smart meters" will report back not just how much energy you are using, but what is using it and when.

Yes, cops are manhandling people onto shackled stretchers and jabbing them with needles on the side of the road.

Yes, you are under total surveillance, the like of which the old Soviet Union could only dream of.

Yes, there are miniature "drones" shaped like insects that can be released for further surveillance of you.

Yes...it is really happening.

*And AmeriKunts love it and want more.*

----------


## tod evans

No, no, no!

You're supposed to be paying attention to what marijuana does to children!

----------


## ZENemy

Its all good, Hilary clinton will fix this when she is installed unto the throne.

----------


## AuH20



----------


## Warlord

Alex Jones goes mainstream

----------


## Suzanimal

It's all good.





> Samsung Says You Shouldn’t Be Worried About Its TVs Recording And Transmitting Your Voice
> 
> It compares this line from Samsung’s Smart TV privacy policy…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> ...


http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/th...iking-thirteen

----------


## CaptUSA



----------


## donnay

Denial isn't just a river in Egypt... 

*CIA Head: We Will Spy On Americans Through Electrical Appliances*

Global information surveillance grid being constructed; willing Americans embrace gadgets used to spy on them

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
March 16, 2012

CIA director David Petraeus has said that the rise of new “smart” gadgets means that Americans are effectively bugging their own homes, saving US spy agencies a job when it identifies any “persons of interest”.

Speaking at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s technology investment operation, Petraeus made the comments when discussing new technologies which aim to add processors and web connections to previously ‘dumb’ home appliances such as fridges, ovens and lighting systems.

Wired reports the details via its *Danger Room Blog*:

“‘Transformational’ is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies,” Petraeus enthused, “particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft.”

“Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters — all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing,” Petraeus said.

“the latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing.” the CIA head added.

Petraeus also stated that such devices within the home “change our notions of secrecy”.

Petraeus’ comments come in the same week that one of the biggest microchip companies in the world, ARM, unveiled new processors that are designed to *give practically every household appliance an internet connection*, in order that they can be remote controlled and operate in tandem with applications.

ARM describes the concept as an “internet of things”.

Where will all the information from such devices be sent and analyzed? It can be no coincidence that the NSA is currently building a monolithic heavily fortified $2 billion facility deep in the Utah desert and surrounded by mountains. The facility is set to go fully live in September 2013.

*Continued...*

----------


## Anti Federalist

I'm being "overly paranoid" because I don't want a go-zillion different electronic devices monitoring everything I say and do *inside my home* and sending it back to god knows who, for storage and review?

When did wanting to be free from such things and have some level of privacy, become "overly paranoid"?

Why is it "kooky conspiracy theory" and "impossible" when trying to warn people it's coming and then becomes "paranoia" when it happens?

Why do I even $#@!ing bother, is an even better question.

What's the $#@!ing point...

----------


## JK/SEA

'despite all my rage, i'm still just a rat in a cage'

----------


## Warlord

AF Knows. Preach it brother

----------


## AuH20



----------


## roho76

Simple solution. Don't plug your refrigerator into you router. Problem solved.

----------


## tod evans

> Simple solution. Don't plug your refrigerator into you *router*. Problem solved.


????????????

----------


## Acala

> ????????????


I think you mean this:

----------


## tod evans

The plug threw me......

----------


## DamianTV

> The company said it took consumer privacy “very seriously”, and that data gathering “is carried out with utmost transparency”, with industry-standard security safeguards and practices” including “data encryption”.


Notice the careful phrasing.  ...took consumer privacy "very seriously'...
- Translation - They take it and dont give it back

More careful phrasing:  ... is carried out with utmost transparency...
- Translation - "We are honest about invading your privacy"

Another careful phrasing: "Industry Standard Security Safeguards"
- Translation - Industry Standard now means you have No Privacy and No Rights

Yet another purposefully phrased detail: "Data Encryption"
- Translation - We lock our milk trucks so those that want to know anything about you have to give us money.  You still lock your Milk Truck, even if the milk has hormones, right?

The big picture: YOU are the product that they sell, and you pay for their own farming equipment to sell YOU.

----------


## TheCount

This is how voice commands work.  If you don't want your voice recorded, don't use voice commands.

----------


## Lucille

^ Fascists don't worry about such_ inconsequential_ things.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-Third-Parties




> Except it is REQUIRED BY LAW
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				However, when challenged by a blogger who called Samsung to find out more about the process, representatives seemed to be confused about the precise reason as to why voice data was being collected.
> 
> ...


Now _why_ would it be required by law, I wonder?!

----------


## DamianTV

I tried to start a thread on this, but it got moved to the Privacy subforum:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...11#post5779311

_Without Privacy, everything becomes subject to approval_.

----------


## TheCount

> Now _why_ would it be required by law, I wonder?!


Some random blogger calls Samsung's tech support hotline and asks a tier 1 rep questions.  Doesn't pass the smell test for me for a couple reasons:

1)  Do you think that a tech support hotline rep would even know that there was a court order, let alone the details of the court order?

2)  I don't like that the guy edited the recording.  He should have posted the entire call.


It took me a bit to find, but here's the original recording that this claim is based upon:

----------


## Matt Collins

I dont know what AJ alleged, but he is right about half the time.

----------


## heavenlyboy34

> From a CNET article on the subject:
> 
> 
> 
> No, it is NOT inevitable and I did NOT agree to this.
> 
> It's being foisted on me against my will.
> 
> I do not want an "internet of things".
> ...


"Nonsense, silly man.  You are obligated to obey by the Social Contract.  You have nothing to fear". -_Boobus Americanus_

----------


## dulci

One should be surprised that the government hasn't yet sent one of their agents to terminate Mr. Jones.

----------


## TheCount

> One should be surprised that the government hasn't yet sent one of their agents to terminate Mr. Jones.


That would only be surprising if the things he says are true.

----------


## donnay

> That would only be surprising if the things he says are true.


With regards to what the OP states, Alex Jones has been speaking the truth on this for years.  People like yourself just don't like to admit it, nevertheless.

----------


## TheTexan

> I remember it well.
> 
> Yes, the "internet of things" will monitor everything you say and do inside your home.
> 
> Yes, the "smart meters" will report back not just how much energy you are using, but what is using it and when.
> 
> Yes, cops are manhandling people onto shackled stretchers and jabbing them with needles on the side of the road.
> 
> Yes, you are under total surveillance, the like of which the old Soviet Union could only dream of.
> ...


Vote harder.

----------


## Lucille

Hey, do you guys remember when some people were afraid the NSA was listening to all of our phone calls, and the statist hacks and tools said those people were a bunch of paranoid lunatic nutjob conspiracy theorists?  Good times!

----------


## helmuth_hubener

So, how are we going to fight this?

----------


## TheCount

> With regards to what the OP states, Alex Jones has been speaking the truth on this for years.  People like yourself just don't like to admit it, nevertheless.


If he's speaking the truth, why is he alive?

----------


## TheCount

> So, how are we going to fight this?


Don't use voice recognition.

----------


## donnay

> Hey, do you guys remember when some people were afraid the NSA was listening to all of our phone calls, and the statist hacks and tools said those people were a bunch of paranoid lunatic nutjob conspiracy theorists?  Good times!


"Must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Lucille again."  I owe you one.  

"*For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it.*"
~ Patrick Henry

----------


## donnay

> If he's speaking the truth, why is he alive?


So your saying there is a conspiracy afoot by unknown people to kill anyone who speaks and exposes the truth?

----------


## TheCount

> So your saying there is a conspiracy afoot by unknown people to kill anyone who speaks and exposes the truth?


According to him, there is.

http://www.infowars.com/evidence-indicates-michael-hastings-was-assassinated/

http://www.infowars.com/michael-hast...illance-state/

http://www.infowars.com/cia-killed-p...kevin-barrett/

http://www.infowars.com/only-eyewitn...th-disappears/

http://www.infowars.com/mancow-mulle...-was-murdered/

http://www.infowars.com/breitbart-wa...ens-march-1st/

----------


## NorthCarolinaLiberty

> One should be surprised that the government hasn't yet sent one of their agents to terminate Mr. Jones.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by TheCount
> ...



Two whopping posts from dulci and they both look throwaway.  Is dulci your sock puppet account, Count?

----------


## donnay

> According to him, there is.
> 
> http://www.infowars.com/evidence-indicates-michael-hastings-was-assassinated/
> 
> http://www.infowars.com/michael-hast...illance-state/
> 
> http://www.infowars.com/cia-killed-p...kevin-barrett/
> 
> http://www.infowars.com/only-eyewitn...th-disappears/
> ...



Well if they kill him they make him a martyr to the cause and they don't want too many people awake.


A good analogy:

----------


## CPUd

Maybe they are soft-killing him (AKA making him live longer).

----------


## Anti Federalist

> This is how voice commands work.  If you don't want your voice recorded, don't use voice commands.


And you honestly think "shutting off that feature" will stop the voice recordings?

C'mon Eduardo...you can troll better than that.

----------


## Anti Federalist

> Hey, do you guys remember when some people were afraid the NSA was listening to all of our phone calls, and the statist hacks and tools said those people were a bunch of paranoid lunatic nutjob conspiracy theorists?  Good times!


Yes, yes I do.

----------


## donnay

> Maybe they are soft-killing him (AKA making him live longer).


The sad thing is we are all being soft killed.  Fluoride, mercury, vaccines, pharmaceutical drugs, cell phones, GMO's...

Download a copy of Eco Science.

----------


## TheCount

> And you honestly think "shutting off that feature" will stop the voice recordings?



If there is a giant conspiracy to snoop on you 24/7, why would they tell you about it in the user's manual?

----------


## DamianTV

One way or the other, I think the Govt is truly starting to lose their Monopoly of Belief.

Alex Jones inst perfect.  He is human.  Im not perfect either.  So when people challenge the ideas I propose without emotionally attacking me as individual, I actually really appreciate it!  The reason for this is that an effort is being made to critically think about the idea itself without shooting the messenger.  And Alex Jones is a Messenger just as Ron Paul is a Messenger and Jesse Ventura is a Messenger.

There is another side to this coin.  In the movie V for Vendetta, owning a copy of the Kuran was "Illegal".  The people that enforce the Monopoly of Violence when the Monopoly of Belief is challenged are those who do not critically think and blindly accept what they are told without challenging those ideas.  Kuran = Evil, thus they kick in the guys door and killed him.  What happens when the reason your front door is getting kicked in is because of yoru Orwellian TV Sets?  Surveillance is only going to grow in scope and scale.  Internet Lightbulbs.  Internet Toasters.  Internet Can Openers.  Eventually, with Internet over Power Lines, you wont even have to supply the Internet itsef as the Power Lines become the means of Internet.  After all, what would all of the Smart Meters be used for?  Oh, Power over Internet.  Total Surveillance.  And when they finally achieve total surveillace over every aspect of your life and get you to buy the cameras in your house through which they conduct their surveillance, it ALL becomes subject to approval.  AI is basically here, right now.  Your thoughts and actions will be processed through a behavioural algorithm, and you will be held accountable for deviations of their Monopoly of Belief to be applied by either their Monopoly of Violence or Monopoly of Money, or both.

---

----------


## Lucille

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...-conversations




> While the privacy policy statement is disturbing in its own right, the extent of how creepy it is has to do with the fact that this information will be shared with a third party. This begs the question, who is this third party? Corynne McSherry, the intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has some thoughts. From the Daily Beast:
> [...]
> *After reading this, I have two concerns. First, theres the point outlined by McSherry about the vulnerability to hackers. So even if we can be assured that Samsung and the third party isnt up to anything nasty, is the entire process secure enough to protect ourselves from hackers, or an intelligence agency like the NSA? I have my doubts.*
> 
> *Beyond this, there is an equally important concern regarding how this trend might progress into the future, and how it will future erode personal privacy if we dont address it now.*
> [...]
> Now back to the original Daily Beast article for some more thoughts on the matter
> 
> 
> ...

----------


## Anti Federalist

> Nah, I alluded to the solution earlier...  Firewalls.  *Flood the collectors of data with so much useless information that it can't discern what is valid and what is not.*  A digital smoke screen.


And *that's* why theye built "spook central" out in Utah.

----------


## Danke

> And you honestly think "shutting off that feature" will stop the voice recordings?
> 
> C'mon Eduardo...you can troll better than that.


The "Count" is Eduardo?

----------


## Anti Federalist

> The "Count" is Eduardo?


Me and Mrs AF are thinking so.

----------


## TheCount

> Me and Mrs AF are thinking so.


Well, all your other theories are so solid, it's a sure thing.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Me and Mrs AF are thinking so.


Eddy has a few screen names still. Of course, like you two, it's only what I'm thinking. Hell, he even makes the front page once in a while, I think. Maybe even saw youknowwho poking around in my BRICS thread.

Or maybe I'm just _craaaaaaaazay_. 

Heh...

----------


## Danke

> Well, all your other theories are so solid, it's a sure thing.


I have the sadz.

----------


## DamianTV

> Nah, I alluded to the solution earlier...  Firewalls.  Flood the collectors of data with so much useless information that it can't discern what is valid and what is not.  A digital smoke screen.


Depends on how it is done.  Using programs to generate an endless sea of garbage may be worth while.  But pulling it off will be difficult as most people havent the slightest ability to understand technology.  The "Twelve O'Clock Flashers", or the ones that didnt know how to set the time on their VCRs before they were replaced with DVDs.

Other problem is too many people dont really understand the consequences.  It isnt as if a human is gonna look at the specifics of the data collected, but will look at what a computer program tells them to look at.  Oooh, he ate too much butter, better raise his insurance rates.  All these data points that identify patters are going to lead to one inevitalbe consequence, the poorer you are, the more you will pay for everything.  Here is how it works.  Without privacy, everything is subject to approval.  Those that are most likely to have their actions, thoughts, or behaviors disapproved will be the poor, not the rich.  Mr Rich Guy and Mr Poor Guy go out and buy some butter.  Mr Poor Guys health insurace goes up because "butter is bad for you", but Mr Rich Guy, well his Gym Membership (that he never goes to) offsets his "bad butter habits", oh and he has a swimming pool, and bought running shoes, and has a nice mountain bike, while Mr Poor Guy can afford to sit at home and watch TV.

When everything is subject to approval, visiting a website like this one regularly will end up the visitor visiting the next Gitmo for US citizens.  Angela would be the role model.  Sees something, says something.  Everyone else on this site will pay in some way shape or form, deprived of certain liberties, driving, owning a gun, buying more butter, whatever the case may be.  The tech like this is only a symptom of a much deeper and far more severe problem.

Without privacy, we become subject to total control and total obedience will be demanded.

----------


## helmuth_hubener

> This is not something people are going to be successful at fighting against, not in the long term.


  How so?  Why not?  What do you mean?




> That effort is better spent on education- in this case, a good start would be to study things like digital circuits and network protocols.  If your TV is doing something you don't want it to do, you should have the knowledge and skills to void the warranty with confidence and make it stop.


 That sounds like an awfully effective way of fighting it, to me!

----------


## PRB

> SCOTUS says you don't have a right to privacy.  Watcha gonna do about it, mundane?


you're not forced to use a TV, and you're warned what they'll do. You chose to buy the TV, smartvs are private property made by a private company, what's your problem?

----------


## invisible

> So, how are we going to fight this?


Well, my tv is an older analog type, hooked up only to a DVD player.  No broadcast, no cable.  I have no intention of ever buying a digital tv, since I have no desire to watch broadcast or cable tv.  That's the first way to fight it, is to boycott this crap entirely.

The second way to fight it, if you must own a digital tv, is to open the set up, find the microphone, and unsolder or clip the hot wire that passes the audio.  Quite easy for anyone with even minimal electronics knowledge to do.  However, this will void your warranty, unless you're very careful and do it such that your modification can be reversed without any visible evidence.

----------


## PRB

> The second way to fight it, if you must own a digital tv, is to open the set up, find the microphone, and unsolder or clip the hot wire that passes the audio.


what if there's a shared path that may be critical to the rest of the board?

----------


## invisible

> what if there's a shared path that may be critical to the rest of the board?


Then you dummy up something to fool the board into thinking that the microphone is still connected.  Again, not difficult for anyone with a bit of basic electronics knowledge.

----------


## DamianTV

> you're not forced to use a TV, and you're warned what they'll do. You chose to buy the TV, smartvs are private property made by a private company, what's your problem?


Not much different than buying a Smart Phone and not being able to fully unlock it, which is where the term "Jailbreak" it came from.  These companies really like to think they can tell everyone what they can and can not do with anything they purchase.  Look on the back of a can of paint.  "Unlawful to use except in the manner prescribed."  Screwdrivers come with a warning: "Do not insert into penis".  Chrismas lights come with Warnings and Legal Stipulations: "For Indoor or Outdoor Use ONLY".  Um, as opposed to what?  All these "Instructions" and "Warnings" and "Labels" are just that, instructions and warnings and labels.  Words on paper.  Buy at TV and do what ever the hell you want with it.  Leasing is a bit different, more like Renting.

You are right.  People are not required to watch TV.  But people are offered a choice.  The choice between what is Right and what is Easy.  Typically they choose what is Easy.  It is Easy to not read, to not learn, to not think, and unfortunately, you are quite correct that they are not required to watch TV, but people do choose to watch TV and choose not to read, choose not to learn, and choose not to think.  TV is a WMD, or a Weapon of Mass Distraction.  And it does its job exceedingly well.

----------


## helmuth_hubener

Along the same productive lines of solution-seeking, from our own lovely and wonderful Suzanimal:




>

----------


## helmuth_hubener

> Well, my tv is an older analog type, hooked up only to a DVD player.  No broadcast, no cable.  I have no intention of ever buying a digital tv, since I have no desire to watch broadcast or cable tv.  That's the first way to fight it, is to boycott this crap entirely.
> 
> The second way to fight it, if you must own a digital tv, is to open the set up, find the microphone, and unsolder or clip the hot wire that passes the audio.  Quite easy for anyone with even minimal electronics knowledge to do.  However, this will void your warranty, unless you're very careful and do it such that your modification can be reversed without any visible evidence.


Well, you can also build or buy an actual full Home Theater PC, which will, in my opinion, be far better, far more powerful, and far smarter than any "smart TV" you could purchase, and will also be under your complete control whether and when you want a microphone listening to you and whether and when and to whom and in what manner you want it to network.

----------


## DamianTV

> Well, you can also build or buy an actual full Home Theater PC, which will, in my opinion, be far better, far more powerful, and far smarter than any "smart TV" you could purchase, and will also be under your complete control whether and when you want a microphone listening to you and whether and when and to whom and in what manner you want it to network.


I think I'll use my computer that I have control over for any and all networking, and they can pry my TV remote control from my cold dead hands.

----------


## CaptUSA

> I think I'll use my computer that *I have control over for any and all networking*

----------


## helmuth_hubener

> I think I'll use my computer that I have control over for any and all networking, and they can pry my TV remote control from my cold dead hands.


Umm, how do these two statements go together?

----------


## DamianTV

> Just get in the habit of saying very positive things about the great government we have, when you're in front of the TV.  Then you should be fine.


When you say it, you start to believe it.  "I pledge allegiance..."

---




> Umm, how do these two statements go together?


Computers go online, TVs do not.

You have a lot more control over how your internet works on your computer because you can control specific parts of your computer.  With a TV, it is one big box, not a set of smaller components that you can mess with.  Other than changing stuff that relates to audio and video, you really dont have anywhere nearly as much control over your TV as you do over your computer.  The less control youre allowed, the less defense you have.  For example, when both TVs and Computers can connect to the internet, both can reach websites, and both can be hacked.  You can put a Firewall on your Computer, but can not install a Firewall on your TV.  This, I think, is symbolic of our lives.  The more technology advances, the less control we seem to have over it.  These Smart TVs I think are more akin to just giant Smart Phones, not computers.  You dont have as much control over your Phone as you do as your computer, yet their ability to crunch numbers and consume is roughly the same.  Highly intense graphic programs that used to only be able to be run on computers with very strong graphics cards can now be done on cell phones.  I'll betcha that TVs can process just as much data as either a computer or Smart Phone.  All this power and no control over how it works.  Lets try cars as an analogy.  Oooh, I could give your car 500 more horse power, and make it cheaper!  All I have to do is remove the Steering Wheel and Brakes!

Sorry if that statement "I think I'll use my computer that I have control over for any and all networking" didnt make as much sense as I intended.  TVs and Can Openers and Dishwashers and Refrigerators should never ever be allowed to directly broadcast information to the internet themselves.  Another way to look at this is by Proxy.  A VCR, DVD player, DVR, Cable Box, or Dish Receiver act as a Proxy.  Video and audio comes from these devices and sends the audio video to the TV.  So acting as a middleman, it acts as a Proxy.  But now they want you to plug in everything into the internet.  Yes, even your Toilet.  Hands free.  We laugh at the idea, but what will we have in just 50 years?  Monstrosities like this can not be allowed to continue to exist.  We can do this by not buying Internet Everything products.  It may not work as we are only offered the Illusion of Choice, never a meaningful choice.  

Think outside the box?  Ever ask what the Box is made of?  The "Box" is the limitation of the choices you are offered.  Republican or Democrat, Samsung or Sony, it makes no difference.  Republicrats are both for ever bigger government, and the choice you are not offered is to be free.  Samsung or Sony is the same illusion, the technology will all eventually be used to spy on everyone at all times.  The choice you wont be offered is to not be spied on.

----------


## CPUd

Smart TVs are really just small computers with large displays.  They run a OS, just like tablets, gaming consoles and desktops.  Here's 1 board you can use to make your own:


https://developer.nvidia.com/jetson-tk1


Here's 1 server you can run on it to use it as a media center (does not require a PS3):
http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/

----------


## PRB

> I think I'll use my computer that I have control over for any and all networking, and they can pry my TV remote control from my cold dead hands.


http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...turer-s-drives

----------


## DamianTV

*Samsung Smart TVs Don't Encrypt the Voice Data They Collect*
http://it.slashdot.org/story/15/02/1...a-they-collect




> A week ago, the revelation that Samsung collects words spoken by consumers when they use the voice recognition feature in their smart TVs enraged privacy advocates, since according to Samsung's own privacy policy those words can in some cases include personal or sensitive information. Following the incident, David Lodge, a researcher with a U.K.-based security firm called Pen Test Partners, intercepted and analyzed the Internet traffic generated by a Samsung smart TV and found that Samsung does send captured voice data to a remote server using a connection on port 443, a port typically associated with encrypted HTTPS, but that the data was not encrypted. "It's not even HTTP data, it's a mix of XML and some custom binary data packet," said Lodge in a blog post.


Nothing to fear, nothing to hide?
Without privacy, everything is subject to approval.

----------


## DamianTV

*Samsung lied -- its smart TV is indeed spying on you and it is doing nothing to stop that*
http://betanews.com/2015/02/19/samsu...-to-stop-that/




> ...
> 
> 
> 
> But now we're learning that the data which Samsung gleans from its Smart TVs is not encrypted. Ken Munro and David Lodge, from the London-based Pen Test Partners tested one of Samsungs smart TVs to discover that the TV was uploading audio files in an unencrypted form. The finding further reveals that a transcribed copy of what had been said when beamed back to the TV (letting the TV act on the commands) was also in an unencrypted form for any hacker to decode.
> 
> "Intercepting those communications could be done over wi-fi by neighbours and/or hackers outside your house, if you use the wireless feature of the TV to hook up to the internet", tells Mr. Munro to BBC. "It could also be carried out by your ISP, and by anyone else that has access to internet backbones. I'm thinking governments, law enforcement. This is an easy problem to solve. The communications should be encrypted using SSL just like other sensitive internet communications are".
> 
> Samsung has yet again acknowledged the issue and assures that it plans to fix it soon. "Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind", the company said in a statement.
> ...


They might encrypt the datat to create a False Sense of Security, but it isnt the Hackers you need to worry about, its everyone else that is still allowed access to that data!  Hey look!  Its 4:20 o'clock, time to smoke a bowl!  Hold on, there is someone knocking on my front door very loudly...

(duplicated in first post of thread)

----------


## TheTexan

> Nah, I alluded to the solution earlier...  Firewalls.  Flood the collectors of data with so much useless information that it can't discern what is valid and what is not.  A digital smoke screen.


That flood of "useless" information is not useless, because it identifies you as a trouble maker.

----------

