The companies behind the streaming industry, including manufacturers of connected TVs, streaming sticks and streaming service providers, have become a “privacy nightmare”, according to a report by the US-based Center for Digital Democracy (CDD).
The report, How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era, provides a detailed overview of streaming services and streaming hardware. It describes how companies such as Samsung and LG have developed increasingly sophisticated technologies to collect user data, which is then used to produce targeted advertising.
The organization points out that today’s connected TVs (CTVs) and streaming sticks are “surveillance systems” that have “long undermined privacy and consumer protection”. Jeffrey Chester, co-author of the report and CDD’s executive director, describes it as a “privacy nightmare”.
– Not only does CTV operate in ways that are unfair to consumers, it is also putting them and their families at risk as it gathers and uses sensitive data about health, children, race, and political interests, Chester said in a statement according to Ars Technica.
Misleading privacy policies
Beyond the rising subscription costs of streaming and the increasing prevalence of ads in the services, the growth of streaming comes at another “steep price”, according to the report. Among other things, the prevalence of “misleading” privacy policies is high, with minimal information available about, for example, companies’ data collection and tracking practices.
“Buying a smart TV set in today’s connected television marketplace is akin to bringing a digital Trojan Horse into one’s home“, the report says.
In connection with the report, CDD has sent letters to various US authorities, calling for stronger regulation of how data can be collected and used.
