I'm terrified of my new TV: Why I’m scared to turn this thing on - and you'd be, too
From facial recognition to personal data collection, this thing is downright scary -- and so are the implications
By: Michael Price
SALON.COM - October 30, 2014 -- I just bought a new TV. The old one had a good run, but after the volume got stuck on 63, I decided it was time to replace it. I am now the owner of a new "smart" TV, which promises to deliver streaming multimedia content, games, apps, social media and Internet browsing. Oh, and TV too.
The only problem is that I'm now afraid to use it. You would be too - if you read through the 46-page privacy policy.
The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. It logs where, when, how and for how long you use the TV. It sets tracking cookies and beacons designed to detect "when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message." It records " the apps you use, the websites you visit, and how you interact with content." It ignores " do-not-track" requests as a considered matter of policy.
It also has a built-in camera - with facial recognition. The purpose is to provide "gesture control" for the TV and enable you to log in to a personalized account using your face. On the upside, the images are saved on the TV instead of uploaded to a corporate server. On the downside, the Internet connection makes the whole TV vulnerable to hackers who have demonstrated the ability to take complete control of the machine.
More troubling is the microphone. The TV boasts a "voice recognition" feature that allows viewers to control the screen with voice commands. But the service comes with a rather ominous warning: "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. " Got that? Don’t say personal or sensitive stuff in front of the TV.
You may not be watching, but the telescreen is listening… ."
For the complete article, see:www.salon.com/2014/10/30/im_terrified_of_my_new_tv_why_im_scared_to_turn_this_thing_on_and_youd_be_too/
What about devices? Despite the crisis, we are experiencing a boom in terms of art terminals that combine information, entertainment and productivity tools. However, its widespread use is turning us into potential victims of all types of vulnerabilities. Just look at
how one is exploited, to leave us speechless and tempted to turn off our environment. *
Can your "smart TV" watch you?
By Chenda Ngak
CBS NEWS - August 3, 2013 --
Closing the curtains in your living room may not close the doors on potential hackers. At a demonstration Friday in Las Vegas, researchers showed an audience of children at Defcon Kids how a Samsung Smart TV can be hacked.
So-called smart TVshave an operating system installed that is similar to a smartphone, which hosts third-party apps. People can browse the Internet, launch apps and take photos using their remote controls…
…One of the immediate questions that arises is whether the TV can turn its camera on its owner and open a gateway for home surveillance. The researchers say that a hacker could potentially take control of the TV's camera and remain undetected.
"They could actually either see live, streaming video into your home or office or to take still camera shots of you," Grattafiori said about potential hackers. "There's no physical indicator, nor visual indicator, that you'd be able to know your camera was on or taking pictures of you." …
For the complete article, see:www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57596857/can-your-smart-tv-watch-you/
Mind Control - Induced States of Consciousness - Patent 5356368 Monroe & MKULTRA
Uploaded on Aug 20, 2011
Is your smart TV spying on you?
You've heard of the government spying on you and even businesses spying on you. But have you heard of your TV spying on you?!
If you're not familiar with "smart TVs," they are modern flatscreen TVs with built-in apps allowing you to access online content like Netflix, Hulu Plus, or Amazon Prime much more easily than you would access traditional broadcast content.
Well, now comes word that LG smart TVs were spying on what, when, and how customers watched whatever they were watching. In addition, LG was gathering the names of files stored on external USB drives that were connected to their smart TVs, according to Consumerist.com… ."
For the complete article, see: www.clarkhoward.com/
Is your TV spying on YOU? It sounds like science fiction but many new TVs can watch you - telling advertisers your favourite shows or even filming you on the sofa. And there's no off switch!
By Guy Adams
DAILYMAIL - 25 November 2013 --
You are sitting in bed in your pyjamas [sic], drinking a cup of cocoa. A loved one lies next to you, watching late-night television. Pillow talk is exchanged. An alarm clock is set. Eventually the lights are turned out.
Earlier, you sat on the living-room sofa eating supper, before loading the dishwasher and heading upstairs.
You have, in other words, just enjoyed a perfectly normal night, in a perfectly normal home. The curtains are drawn, the central heating turned up. It's cosy, relaxing and, above all, completely private. Or so you thought.
The truth turns out to be quite the opposite. For on the other side of the world, people you didn't know existed are keeping a beady eye on your every move.
These characters can see what clothes you have been wearing and what food you've eaten. They heard every word you said, and logged every TV show you watched. Some are criminals, others work for major corporations. And now they know your most intimate secrets.
It may sound like a plot summary for a futuristic science-fiction movie. But real-life versions of this Orwellian scenario are being played out every day in towns and cities across the globe - and in most cases the victims have no idea.
At fault is a common electronic device invented nearly a century ago and found in almost every modern household: the domestic television set.
Put simply, our TVs have started spying on us.
Last week, there was a high-profile case in point. An IT consultant called Jason Huntley, who lives in a village near Hull, uncovered evidence that a flat-screen television, which had been sitting in his living room since the summer, was secretly invading his family's privacy…
The information Huntley's TV had sent - without his knowledge - included the contents of his private digital video collection, which he'd watched on the television. This included camcorder footage of family celebrations containing images of his wife and two young children.
Most worrying of all, the device continued sending such information to Korea even after Huntley had adjusted the television's default settings to 'opt out' of data sharing…
'I don't think we've heard the last of this. Who knows what else these televisions are doing that we don't know about?'…
…This year, Luigi Auriemma, an IT security researcher and computer programmer from Malta, demonstrated the risks that these devices pose when he showed it was possible to hack into several types of Samsung smart television.
Last week, IT consultant Jason Huntley uncovered evidence that his LG flat-screen television, which had been sitting in his living room since the summer, was secretly invading his family's privacy
After accessing the devices via the internet, Auriemma was able to control them: turning the TVs off and on, and secretly accessing data they held about a user's viewing habits.
Had he been a criminal, he could also have obtained details of the credit cards that users had uploaded to access pay-per-view TV, download films or use shopping apps.
Other experts recently made the chilling discovery that it is possible to remotely access the video cameras built into the front of thousands of smart televisions, and spy on the users in their own home.
One such expert is Kurt Stammberger, who works for the IT security firm Mocana. He says the company was recently asked by a television manufacturer to do 'penetration tests' on its devices.
'We weren't just able to find out what someone was watching, and had watched,' he says. 'We could also install "spyware" that could, if they had a video camera, allow us to see through that camera - without even activating the little light that indicates it's on…
…And we may not even be safe in our own living rooms.
For the complete article see: www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2513592/Is-TV-spying-YOU.html
Smart TVs can spy on their owners
RUSSIA TODAY - 15 December, 2012 --
Viewers, beware: while you're watching TV, your TV might be watching you back. A security firm discovered that Samsung's Smart TV can give hackers access to the device’s built-in camera and microphones, allowing them to watch everything you do.
The Malta-based firm ReVuln posted a video showing its team of researchers hacking into one of the Samsung TVs and accessing its settings, channel lists, widgets, USB drives, and remote control configurations. The security flaw allows hackers to access any and all personal data stored on the TV.
ReVuln The TV is watching you
Published on Dec 13, 2012
Vulnerabilidad Samsung Smart TV
Hola a tod@s
Os acordáis de aquellos relojes en los que se podÃa cambiar
los canales de la televisión. En los que te invitaba tu vecino a merendar en su
casa y entre colacao y bocata os divertÃais cambiándole de canal la TV y fastidiándole
la novela a la madre de tu amigo. Pues a partir de hoy lo podréis hacer en casa
de vuestra suegra. Eso sÃ, si vuestra suegra tiene un televisor Samsung.
Gracias a ReVuln Ltd que ha descubierto una vulnerabilidad
de dÃa cero en el Samsung Smart TV
que permite a los malos obtener información importante, acceso al monitor y a
la raÃz del dispositivo de forma remota.
Aún no se sabe con certeza qué modelos fueron afectados por
esta vulnerabilidad.
Asà que si tenéis un televisor Samsung Smart TV cuidado, te
pueden fastidiar la tarde de fútbol.
"We can install malicious software to gain complete root access to the TV," the video writes.
With this access, hackers can use the Smart TVs built-in camera and microphones to see and hear everything in front of it. Instead of just watching TV, viewers could themselves be watched without knowing it… ."
For the complete article, see:http://rt.com/usa/smart-tv-security-access-092/
Blogger note: I might be shooting myself in the foot in regard to possible Amazon sales, but have you seen the ultra-new device, the Amazon Echo?
I was actually tempted to get one, especially when I was offered a $99.00 discount as a Prime member. But I bet it is an ULTRA spy device. Pun intended!
Introducing Amazon Echo
Published on Nov 6, 2014
Amazon Echo is always ready, connected, and fast. Just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo is controlled by your voice for hands-free convenience and is connected to the cloud so it's always getting smarter.
Request an invite at http://amazon.com/echo
But now I realize that Facebook, Google, my Android Samsung smart phone with its GPS, and the wonderful ROKU already know all about me anyway. Too late.
Can you imagine how even more mentally lazy we'll become having every inquisitive urge answered by the Echo?
Yes, America the Dumb, Indeed.
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