Shhh, listen with your television. As in 1984 – NRC Q

Samsung, the largest television producer in the world, warns users explicitly that you can be monitored via the television in your living room.

“The telescreen received and sent simultaneously . Any sound that Winston made, above the level of very soft whisper, was picked up by the telescreen and as long as he remained in sight of the metal plate, he could be seen and heard. “

Come familiar?

It is an excerpt from the book 1984 by George Orwell. It appeared last weekend in a description of the terms of use of a Samsung smart TV. It might as well have the manual for Orwell’s telescreen could be:

“You Be aware that, if the include personal data or sensitive information spoken by you words, these data are recorded through your use of Speech and sent to a third party. “

Not that together make sense says, yet

of the screens largest TV manufacturer in the world have eyes and ears that replace the remote control. So you can exchange voice commands from the transmitter or reduce the volume. The same thing using gestures: why is there a camera on smart TVs (not just those from Samsung). The warning applies to the microphone that listens continuously along. Not that it is said a lot of sense in the average family when the TV is on, but still … you do not want someone else listening in.

An employee privacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation explained the link to Orwell, was 15,000 retweets and was picked up by US tech sites.

Is TV really creepy eavesdropper, as tech site TechCrunch claims? Or an Orwellian nightmare, in the words of The Verge? Just checked with Samsung: the privacy conditions have not changed, they are only clearly written. Creepy or not, it is commendable that Samsung again explicitly mentions that you should look for in your own home on your words – that should do more manufacturers

‘Hello TV’, which saves 2 calories <. / h2>

This is 1984 in 2015: we surround ourselves voluntarily with listening devices. Speech recognition is in TVs, but also smartphones and PCs (Apple’s Siri, Google Now, Microsoft Cortana), gaming consoles (Xbox One) and an omniscient device as the Amazon Echo. Waiting patiently until you ‘Alexa’ calls and has since witnessed any gezinskibbel. The tech industry praises speech recognition as a superior (because less strenuous) way of interaction: you do not have to waste two calories to lift the remote. Call ‘Hello TV’ and bark a command like ‘Channel Up’. Useful? Of course not. But nice that it can.

By evading physical buttons we literally lose grip on the devices around us. You get a (hack-) sensitive microphone in the control house and disappears from view, to the ‘back’ look where data are combined with data from unnamed third parties – such as social networking. Data can also be shared in accordance with Samsung ‘affiliates’. Who that is unclear.

Make the smart TV again stupid

Samsung will make recommendations for related programs. This creates a look profile where advertisers have been convinced – not without Samsung develops its own advertising platform

PIA is an advertising area located in the Smart Hub, Samsung SmartTV’s homescreen. That all users have to visit in order to access SmartTV contents.

Philips has already received his thunder because TV buyers made sufficiently clear that collects television viewing habits. TV manufacturers now warn in advance that the viewer is viewed. Do what with that knowledge. The difference between 2015 and 1984 is that you can refuse unwanted features. A wise man that makes superior smart TV back in touch stupid

Marc Hijink is technology editor Twitter.MarcHijinkNRC