Speaking of spying video devices, smart TVs are sending your private data to Facebook and Netflix (via FT—no paywall this time).
SpyTV
Researchers from Northeastern University and Imperial College London conducted a study that found many smart TVs, like those made by LG and Samsung, as well as streaming dongles Roku and Amazon FireTV, share data like location and IP address to Netflix, Facebook, and third-party advertisers.
Amazon, Google, Akamai and Microsoft were the most frequently contacted companies, partly because these companies provide cloud and networking services for smart devices to operate on, the researchers said.
The researchers weren’t able to analyze some data from the TVs because they were surprisingly encrypted. Network traffic indicates that the data sent out includes locations, IP address, and “possibly” when people interact with the TV. The content people watch may or may not be sent out, depending on the manufacturer.
Further Reading:
[Samsung Deletes Tweet Warning of Smart TV Malware]
[Tip: Stop Surveillance By Smart TVs from Vizio, Samsung, and LG]