Complaints About Samsung SmartTVs. Our firm is reviewing complaints on behalf of consumers who have purchased Samsung SmartTVs and who have either had voice data collected from their TVs without their knowledge or who have been subject to unwanted advertisements when accessing smart TV apps. Spygate: Samsung SmartTVs Collect Voice Data for Text Conversion by […]
Complaints About Samsung SmartTVs. Our firm is reviewing complaints on behalf of consumers who have purchased Samsung SmartTVs and who have either had voice data collected from their TVs without their knowledge or who have been subject to unwanted advertisements when accessing smart TV apps.
Samsung made news again when it was discovered that a number of Samsung SmartTV models are now equipped with a voice recognition feature. This feature enables users to talk to their smart TVs by use of verbal commands. This means that the Samsung’s SmartTV is listening to consumers’ voices; the technology is operational all the time.
Samsung has warned its customers that every word they speak near the television is being captured and transmitted over the Internet, according to a recent CNN report. “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,” Samsung posted in its SmartTV privacy policy. However, according to Samsung, it must send customers’ commands to a third-party for recorded customers’ speech conversion into text. CNN notes that Samsung also collects customers’ commands so that research may be conducted for the purpose of potential feature improvements.
When the voice recognition is turned on, a microphone appears on the screen to advise customers that their voices are being captured. Consumers may opt out of this feature, according to Samsung; however, even if a consumer opts out, his/her voice commands are still captured because Samsung’s SmartTV was built with a set of a pre-programmed commands that recognize voice regardless of the status of the voice recognition feature. This ensures Samsung may collect the text of pre-programmed voice commands.
CNN noted that Samsung uses the captured data for analysis of customer use of using specific commands. “Samsung does not retain voice data or sell it to third parties,” the company indicated in a statement. “If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature … the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV.” It appears that, regardless of consumers’ preferences or options chosen, some type of consumer data is being transmitted across the Internet.
The issue affects Samsung SmartTV models that recognize voice and are manufactured with a built-in camera and microphone, according to CNET. The TV begins processing when a user issues a voice command. One example is the Samsung PN60F8500.
In another report by CNET, Samsung has apparently placed advertisements within some Smart TV apps. For example, the Plex app, which enables consumers to stream movies and music stored on their computers to their TVS. Plex has indicated that it was not involved in what CNET described as “rogue” advertising; Samsung described the matter as an internal error.
Meanwhile, until Samsung removes the advertising feature—if Samsung removes the advertising feature—consumers will have to do the work themselves to stop the advertising. Some Reddit and Plex forum users write that they have come up with a fix that will enable consumers to opt out of Yahoo’s Privacy Policy. The fix works as follows: Click on the “Menu” button on the Samsung remote; scroll to Smart Hub; select “Terms and Policy”; select “Yahoo Privacy Policy” (near the bottom); and check the box to disagree with the policy.
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