Samsung’s 2012 plasmas & LED HDTVs "may allow hackers or Samsung to see and hear you"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Is your TV watching you? Latest models raise concerns



The new Samsung HDTV has hard-wired camera and microphone, plus face recognition and other unprecedented features.

http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/your-tv-watching-you-latest-models-raise-concerns-483619

Samsung’s 2012 top-of-the-line plasmas and LED HDTVs offer new features never before available within a television including a built-in, internally wired HD camera, twin microphones, face tracking and speech recognition. While these features give you unprecedented control over an HDTV, the devices themselves, more similar than ever to a personal computer, may allow hackers or even Samsung to see and hear you and your family, and collect extremely personal data.

While Web cameras and Internet connectivity are not new to HDTVs, their complete integration is, and it's the always connected camera and microphones, combined with the option of third-party apps (not to mention Samsung's own software) gives us cause for concern regarding the privacy of TV buyers and their friends and families.

Samsung has not released a privacy policy clarifying what data it is collecting and sharing with regard to the new TV sets. And while there is no current evidence of any particular security hole or untoward behavior by Samsung's app partners, Samsung has only stated that it "assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable" in the event that a product or service is not "appropriate."

Samsung demoed these features to the press earlier this month. The camera and microphones are built into the top if the screen bezel in the 2012 8000-series plasmas and are permanently attached to the top of the 7500- and 8000ES-series LED TVs. A Samsung representative showed how, once set up and connected to the Internet, these models will automatically talk to the Samsung cloud and enable viewers to use new and exciting apps.

"I'm Rick Santorum, and I approve of these television devices."

[Politicalboi]

1. I was talking to my ex girlfriend 20 years ago about this

About TV's that watch you, without you even knowing it. And disc's the size of quarters for movies that go directly into the TV. The latter hasn't happened as I thought, but it's close.

[TheMadMonk]

4. No? A full movie will fit on a micro-SD card. Not a disk, but definitely...

...quarter sized.

[3waygeek]

8. More like dime-sized...

I have a 64 GB micro-SDXC in my smartphone; I've got about 150 CD's worth of 320 kbps MP3's on it, as well as GPS maps for all of North America, and it's still only about 30% full. I can put several Blu-Ray RIPs on it without difficulty.

For the techies out there -- micro-SDXC is physically & electrically identical to micro-SDHC. The only difference is in the native filesystem format; micro-SDXC uses exFAT, micro-SDHC uses FAT32. If you re-format the micro-SDXC to FAT32, it will behave just like a micro SDHC, just bigger.

[3waygeek]

2. Good thing I didn't spring for the top-of-the line...

I just bought a 7000-series Samsung two weeks ago; it has network connectivity, but no camera or mic.

[BlueToTheBone]

3. that was a major component in "1984"

being watched by your television. Yikes.

[rucky]

5. Whoever bothers to watch me watching TV

needs to get a life.

[backscatter712]

6. In Soviet Amerika, TV watches you! n/t

[TheMadMonk]

7. Samsung. For the record. FUCK YOU!

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE, if your techs figure out how to turn this into their "own little soap opera" a la Lower Merion School District.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE, if some spotty kid with bad personal hygeine bypasses your cheap inadequate security and makes the least part of my personal life public.

I won't submit to "if you walk past this point, you agree to..." supermarket bag searches, and I'll be fucked sideways with a pineapple before I'll submit to a purchase agreement that immunises a company against their product allowing random strangers access to my home.

[hobbit709]

9. A piece of black tape solves that.