In Feb 2015 a privacy group has asked the FTC to investigate Samsung for evesdropping on customers’ private conversations with the new Smart TV. Article here
Note this is a TV, not a smart phone where most of us almost expect to have our privacy violated.
“The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the commission on Tuesday, charging that the Korean electronics giant’s use of voice-recognition technology violates federal communication privacy law. ...
[Voice command, facial recognition , hand gestures] The feature allows users to change channels, adjust volume or search for programs, all with just a verbal command spoken into one of two microphones.
It became the focus of privacy concerns earlier this month when close reading of Samsung’s privacy policy revealed a warning to users 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.”
Although Samsung later updated its privacy policy to make it clear that the TVs’ voice recognition and data collection features can be disabled, EPIC argues that Samsung’s feature violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which prohibits the “interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications.”
Very few people read the 20 page privacy document that comes with their new devices and software. We just blindly (and naively) click on the “I accept” box so we can use our new toy.
I wonder who the third party is – and who they give the info to.
Anyone care to check if the provacy policy that came with their new Samsung Galaxy?