Vizio Fined $2.2 Million for Spying on Customers Using Smart TVs

Megalith

Megalith

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An older story, but I’ll get it out of the way since it is still resonating with some folks. Some months ago, Vizio was caught secretly mining data using a smart TV function that was advertised to do something else entirely, and the FTC has now put down the hammer on the budget-display company. Those of you who are eagle-eyed will notice discrepancies between the actual payout numbers suggested—but in any case, Vizio looks to lose at least a million bucks over this. Not that I needed this case to convince me to turn off all of those gimmicky web functions…

…this week the FTC announced that it had struck a $1.2 million settlement with discount TV vendor Vizio. According to the full FTC complaint (pdf), Vizio began using the company's smart televisions to track user behavior in 2014, without informing customers that this was happening. The FTC notes that Vizio for years heavily advertised a "Smart Interactivity" feature that "enables program offers and suggestions." But the complaint notes this feature never provided customers with a single suggestion. But it did provide Vizio with a wonderful new way to collect and store a huge variety of consumer data under the pretense of adding consumer functionality. MAC addresses, IP addresses, nearby WiFi network names, metadata were all hoovered up and stored. And when the FTC says viewing data, it means that Vizio used pixel analysis to compile personal data on every program and device connected to the Vizio set.
 
My P65-C1 is still the best TV I've ever owned. Easy enough to hit the smart function toggle.
 
Thank you, FTC. Now keep a close eye on Samsung, LG and Sony. Fine them all until they stop doing it.
 
This is not acceptable. Fine the shit out of them. Make them a example to other companies that are or thinking about doing this. The fine should of been 220 million and go back to the consumer. I guess this why China brought Vizio cause they already had all the spy stuff setup already in their current TV.
 
Tiberian said:
Only $2.2 million, eh? A drop in the bucket compared to the value of the information they gleaned in the process, I would imagine.
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Sure is.

I believe there was a figure derived from this that equated to Vizio paying roughly 20 cents per offending television. Absolutely ridiculous.

These companies get away with murder. For the blindly conservative types out there, this is the wake up call that maybe...just maybe...there ought to be some oversight in our supposed 'free market'. Left to their own devices, companies always will screw over their userbase if it means an extra a penny or two.
 
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I bet they love the data they get from me...

Input 1, power on, power off and that's about it....
 
dandirk said:
I bet they love the data they get from me...

Input 1, power on, power off and that's about it....
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They actively scan a sampling a handful of pixel of your current picture every 1 second and upload that. From the stream of a pixels, they look up what exactly you are watching from a database. This has less to do with 'smart' feature than if you are internet connected.
 
jpm100 said:
They actively scan a sampling a handful of pixel of your current picture every 1 second and upload that. From the stream of a pixels, they look up what exactly you are watching from a database. This has less to do with 'smart' feature than if you are internet connected.
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Is that true? I figured it would be what apps and websites, viewing time/duration, etc.
 
dandirk said:
I bet they love the data they get from me...

Input 1, power on, power off and that's about it....
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"According to the agencies’ complaint, starting in February 2014, VIZIO, Inc. and an affiliated company have manufactured VIZIO smart TVs that capture second-by-second information about video displayed on the smart TV, including video from consumer cable, broadband, set-top box, DVD, over-the-air broadcasts, and streaming devices.

In addition, VIZIO facilitated appending specific demographic information to the viewing data, such as sex, age, income, marital status, household size, education level, home ownership, and household value, the agencies allege. VIZIO sold this information to third parties, who used it for various purposes, including targeting advertising to consumers across devices, according to the complaint."

 
Man, it's even worse than I thought. Sending snapshots of what's displayed? Heh. Bold move. You can't get away with vile shit like this unless you're a major US tech company
 
I didn't realize the extent their snooping had gone to. I'm so pissed at Vizio, right now.
 
blackacidevil said:
Wonder how long it will be before TV's require you to agree to a EULA before purchasing?
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They don't already? I would think they ask for one for the Update which i'm sure you have to do if you want to use any of the features on your tv.
 
Semantics said:
They don't already? I would think they ask for one for the Update which i'm sure you have to do if you want to use any of the features on your tv.
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I was leaning more towards a EULA for purchasing the TV itself, not the associated Apps and software installed on it.

Pretty soon we'll be licensing TVs instead of owning them, like what's happened with software and video games.
 
D-Money said:
I didn't realize the extent their snooping had gone to. I'm so pissed at Vizio, right now.
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they are the ones that just got caught. We probably can't imagine just how far all the other manufacturers have taken it.
 
Viper16 said:
they are the ones that just got caught. We probably can't imagine just how far all the other manufacturers have taken it.
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Actually i'm pretty sure most of them snoop they just ask for your permission first Vizio got in trouble for not making a really long EULA probably at the start up set-up.
 
"Smart TV's won't be used to spy on people or collect data" -Everyone trying to justify cameras and mics in a TV years ago.

Oh Look who was right, I was...AGAIN. Dipshits. At this point I wonder if these clowns will ever realize that companies Do not Implement features in devices that don't need it like "Cameras, Mics, Smart technology, Biometric scanning etc etc..." Because it Benefits YOU. It doesn't Benefit you, it never has and never will. It is for the sole benefit of lining the pockets of shareholders with your advertising data and to figure out how to sell you more shit.

 
My Samsung TV reports in constantly with everything disabled. Who knows what kind of spying shenanigans are occuring.
 
I've known about this for years... and they're first getting in trouble now? I don't remember who warned me about connecting my Vizio to the internet or where I read more about it, but I didn't care enough because I needed a way to bring up Netflix and Prime Video for my daughter. We don't really use the TV for anything else... so they can analyze her watching cartoons. LOL!

The way I understood is that they can't actually see what's on the screen, but they can still analyze it somehow. I tried doing a quick search for the post that I originally saw that thoroughly explained it and gave you a pictorial of what they saw, but I cannot find it. If I run into it, I'll edit my post. I'm sure there is plenty of other info on these new articles, too.

I've got an Apple TV now, so the only thing my TV is hooked up for is Prime Video... Should Amazon ever have an actual app for the Apple TV, I'll permanently disconnect my TV... until then, I guess I'm spied on. I'm glad it doesn't have a camera like Samsung's!
 
elation said:
My Samsung TV reports in constantly with everything disabled. Who knows what kind of spying shenanigans are occuring.
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Because you can't actually disable it without opening the back and severing the wire connected to the camera.

NAiLs said:
I've known about this for years... and they're first getting in trouble now? I don't remember who warned me about connecting my Vizio to the internet or where I read more about it, but I didn't care enough because I needed a way to bring up Netflix and Prime Video for my daughter. We don't really use the TV for anything else... so they can analyze her watching cartoons. LOL!

The way I understood is that they can't actually see what's on the screen, but they can still analyze it somehow. I tried doing a quick search for the post that I originally saw that thoroughly explained it and gave you a pictorial of what they saw, but I cannot find it. If I run into it, I'll edit my post. I'm sure there is plenty of other info on these new articles, too.

I've got an Apple TV now, so the only thing my TV is hooked up for is Prime Video... Should Amazon ever have an actual app for the Apple TV, I'll permanently disconnect my TV... until then, I guess I'm spied on. I'm glad it doesn't have a camera like Samsung's!
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This is how the water gets progressively warmer. People refusing to care when it just gets a little bit warmer. After all, they didn't throw you into a pot of boiling water right?
 
Sonicks said:
Sure is.

I believe there was a figure derived from this that equated to Vizio paying roughly 20 cents per offending television. Absolutely ridiculous.
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That's probably more than the data was worth on a per-set basis. The big thing is that the FTC got a 20 year consent decree, which will cost quite a bit more over that period. A small snippet:

...
Defendants must obtain initial and biennial assessments
...
completed by a qualified, objective, independent third-party professional, who uses procedures and standards generally accepted in the profession. An individual qualified to prepare such Assessments must have a minimum of 3 years of experience in the field of privacy and data protection.
...
The reporting period for the Assessments must cover: (1) the first 180 days after the issuance date of the Order for the initial Assessment, and (2) each 2-year period thereafter for 20 years after the issuance date of the Order for the biennial Assessments.
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